Stop playing games with the education of Alaska's children

Alaska needs to completely rethink how it funds education.

The current system of annual appropriations creates an unnecessary world of chaos within our education system that leads to wasted time and energy that should instead be spent teaching our kids.

Each and every year, the Alaska Legislature uses the education budget as a political volleyball, batting it back and forth over the net, leaving the funding for the following school year unknown until after the current school year ends. This year, the game seems to rest on the backs of our youngest and our oldest Alaskans.

As I write this, we know that districts across the state are facing teacher reductions of between 400 and 900 (roughly, depending on how much they also cut counselors, librarians and administration). All Early Learning is completely zeroed out.

The gap between these numbers represents the difference between the House and Senate budget numbers. Even the least damaging scenario, in which the education budget is held relatively flat from last year, will result in significant teacher position losses due to increases in costs (mostly associated with health care costs, outside the control of the system).

[University budget and scholarships cut in Senate spending plan]

Spending time in the state Capitol last week only clarified the dysfunction. Right now, the state Senate majority is proposing a cut of more than 5.7 percent to statewide education funding.

This is the largest spending cut in the entire budget, and hits directly at children, who do not have a lobbyist.

It is generally accepted in the Capitol hallways, as well as in private meetings with Senate majority members, that nobody expects the cuts to remain. It is a bargaining chip to be used in the negotiation with the House over whether an income tax is imposed in addition to a reallocation of Permanent Fund earnings.

This inverted logic, that if the House is willing to give up the additional revenue from an income tax, the Senate will agree to spend more on education. I know… it only makes sense in Juneau.

I find it infuriating our school districts are put in a position of having to plan for a huge cut. It would be irresponsible for them to ignore a budget passed by the Senate, when even those that proposed the cut privately say it is not going to happen.

What's a game in Juneau is the real world for the rest of Alaska. Teachers are uncertain if they will be back in their classrooms next year, or even have a job; students face the loss of favorite teachers; principals try to retain some level of morale in the face of all this turmoil. Educational leaders are forced to be part of this scramble instead of thinking up ways to better educate our kids.

There has to be a better way. No private enterprise would manage its affairs in this manner, or treat employees so callously.

Can we switch to a two-year budget that rolls forward, allowing the Legislature the same control, but let schools have the time to plan their budgets? Can we find a way to stabilize education spending in the process? Let's all pressure our legislators to find alternative approaches.

Alyse Galvin is a public education advocate and one of the founding members of Great Alaska Schools. She lives in Anchorage.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com.