OPINION: Alaska’s education commissioner should support public education

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s education commissioner, former Anchorage School District superintendent Deena Bishop, has destroyed her credibility with recent statements opposing increased education funding and proposing new fronts in entirely unnecessary culture wars. Her positions are at odds with the Alaska Constitution, and the governor should replace her with someone who supports and will honor our state’s laws.

Public education is the foundation of a democracy. Public education is also the means by which we honor our foundational promise: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Only public schools can make this promise a reality, that whether rich or poor, kids from all backgrounds have an opportunity to excel. It is this American promise of public education that secured the rights of young people. It is this American promise of public education that built a workforce that defended freedom in both the first and second World Wars. Those who wage war against public education today have forgotten that public education is the essence of who we are, and the essential institution with which we safeguard individual rights and the economic power of this nation.

In Alaska, public education means even more. Funding and operating public schools is our government’s constitutional mandate. Clearly, the state is failing to meet that mandate today. Class sizes of 30 or more students are grossly inconsistent with our constitutional mandate to operate a public education system. A student-to-guidance counselor ratio of 350:1 doesn’t even come close to providing students with the career and behavioral support for kids to succeed. Leaking roofs, failing heating systems, and crumbling buildings make it hard — if not impossible — for kids to learn and reach their full potential.

Against these stark realities, it is preposterous for Bishop to claim schools don’t need more funding to bring class sizes down to a reasonable level, and to provide adequate staff support such as guidance counselors. We don’t know if the governor’s office directed Bishop to say things that are obviously untrue or if she’s ad-libbing. But every Alaskan knows that fairy dust and disingenuous political rhetoric won’t hire teachers and guidance counselors. Our schools, our teachers, and our parents deserve better.

Among Bishop’s many false or misleading claims was a suggestion that localities close neighborhood schools to save funds. As Bishop acknowledged, closing schools is expensive. Closing schools does not save money but instead adds administrative and transportation costs while making it harder for kids to get to school. Anchorage School District is working to increase student attendance, not drive up absenteeism. If ASD followed Bishop’s advice, more students just wouldn’t be able to get to school whenever it snowed, or whenever their parents’ work schedules conflicted with the limited hours of public schools.

Perhaps the most pernicious misrepresentation by Bishop is that the state just doesn’t have money to increase funding for schools. She knows that isn’t true. Last year, by a large bipartisan margin, the state Legislature passed a historic increase in school funding, as part of a balanced budget — then Dunleavy vetoed more than $87 million of that funding. This year, once again the Legislature can fund schools adequately and have a balanced budget.

The Legislature is doing the right thing by prioritizing school funding within a balanced budget. The governor would better reach his goal of getting families to stay in Alaska if his education commissioner would simply do her job and support public schools. Since she appears incapable of that, and incapable of being honest with Alaskans, the governor should find someone new to lead this important department.

Kevin McGee is president of the Anchorage NAACP, Branch 1000-B, and is a Vietnam veteran.

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