Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivered a blunt message to Alaska Association of School Boards President Lon Garrison, in a sharply worded letter accusing him of distorting the reasons behind Dunleavy’s veto of $200 from the $700 increase to the Base Student Allocation.
The letter, addressed directly to Garrison, pushes back on what the governor described as “false and offensive” accusations that his veto reflected a lack of support for Alaska’s students, parents, or educators.
“I served as a school board member and president… I care deeply about educational opportunity, but I also understand the fiscal realities our State faces,” Dunleavy wrote. “Your criticism conveniently ignores the basic fact that Alaska cannot spend what it does not have.”
Dunleavy emphasized that his decision was driven by broader fiscal responsibilities, including declining oil revenue and increasing pressure across state services, not a disregard for education. He pointed to the Legislature’s move to fund the BSA increase by slashing Permanent Fund Dividends and draining millions from the Higher Education Fund, and questioned whether AASB supported that trade-off.
“Governing is about balance and responsibility, not empty advocacy,” he wrote. “I must protect the fiscal solvency of the State—you do not have that obligation.”
The letter escalated from a defense of the veto to a broader attack on the AASB’s positions and leadership. Dunleavy accused the organization of resisting education reform while continually demanding more funding.
“You have made it clear: more funding and local control matter most,” he wrote. “Your organization offers only the tired refrain of ‘more funding,’ with no accountability, no innovation, and no results.”
The governor criticized the association’s opposition to policies such as the Alaska Reads Act, charter school expansion, and homeschool options. He also called out Alaska’s dismal national ranking in academic achievement.
“Alaska ranks near the bottom, 51st in the nation, in academic achievement according to NAEP scores. Does that bother you? Do you care? Where is your outrage about that?” Dunleavy asked.
Dunleavy reminded AASB that his administration has overseen substantial new investments into education, including $1.5 billion above the statutory formula since 2019, from both federal and state sources. He questioned whether the AASB had ever even acknowledged that funding increase.
“You should be honest with the people of Alaska: your priority is not better schools or higher student achievement. It is to maintain the status quo at all costs, regardless of the cost to our children’s future,” Dunleavy wrote.
The governor ended the letter with a pledge to continue advocating for system-wide reforms and to hold groups like the AASB accountable for misrepresenting his administration’s actions.
“I will also do a much better job at informing the public of how you and your organization misrepresent your purpose and my actions,” he concluded.
Read the entire letter here:
That’s one heck of a letter. It should be taken as a wakeup call for school boards who have infinite time for LGBTQ+ advocacy and Trump-hating, while clamoring for more money, all while doing n-o-t-h-i-n-g to improve learning and student test scores. In reality, these school boards’ performance has been so bad that this should be a swift kick in the pants or the gonads.
Just think how the people in this state feel about funding the dumbest kids in the country when they don’t have kids in school, DO YOU CARE?
That would be a first.
Where was all this for the last 7 years?
Well said Governor, I support you 100%
Has Governor Stands Small finally, belatedly, started to regrow his spine?
Where was this vehemence in him four or five years ago, and since?
The glass is neither half full, nor half empty with you and Masked Avenger. It’s broken on the floor under the kitchen table.
Too little too late Governor. You can share your pathetic legacy with Governor’s Schefield, Cooper, and Walker. Stands Tall, stood small, and not at all.
Guessing the Alaska Association of School Boards would like to rethink it’s position on banning certain literature. Letters from Gov. will be top of the banned list.
Well done Governor!
Thank you, Governor!
Response to Governor Dunleavy’s Letter to AASB President Lon Garrison
From the Front Lines of Alaska’s Public Schools
Every now and then, while juggling contracts, evaluations, and the real work of representing Alaska’s public school staff, I see another political broadside from people who wouldn’t last a day in a BSP room—much less in a rural classroom, a cafeteria, or on a special education bus route. So, here we are again, watching Governor Dunleavy accuse the Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB) of protecting the “status quo” while he vetoes $200 in base student allocation that our schools desperately need just to function.
Let’s be clear: the governor’s letter isn’t about reform. It’s about deflection.
🔹 “Be honest with the people of Alaska”? Okay—let’s be.
The $200 BSA veto is not pocket change—it’s the difference between keeping support staff and laying them off, between hiring a needed paraprofessional or increasing workloads for already maxed-out teams, between updated materials and duct tape.
If we’re going to talk about fiscal honesty, let’s talk about the legislature passing a responsible, bipartisan education funding plan and the governor choosing—unilaterally—to undermine it. That’s not “balance.” That’s sabotage.
🔹 “Where is your outrage?” You’re looking at it.
We are absolutely outraged that Alaska ranks near the bottom in academic outcomes—and we’re just as outraged that the governor refuses to adequately fund the very systems needed to improve those outcomes. We are outraged that teachers and classified staff work second jobs, that rural schools can’t find special education personnel, and that mental health supports are being slashed. That’s the real status quo this administration protects.
If Dunleavy truly cared about reading scores and student outcomes, he wouldn’t attack the very districts, boards, and frontline workers who are doing the hard work with fewer and fewer resources. Instead, he’d listen to the professionals—teachers, paras, custodians, specialists, and school board members—who have been begging for stable, predictable, and sufficient funding for years.
🔹 Innovation? We live it every day.
Don’t mistake local control for lack of innovation. Rural districts in Alaska have been building aviation academies, welding programs, tribal language revitalization efforts, and trauma-informed school cultures—often in spite of state-level neglect.
The people advocating for the BSA increase aren’t defending inefficiency—they’re defending children’s right to a functioning classroom with qualified staff and basic resources.
🔹 Real leadership doesn’t start fights with school boards.
Instead of working with educators, this administration prefers to pick fights with them—whether it’s over curriculum, student rights, or funding formulas. Calling the AASB dishonest for defending the integrity of public education is a transparent attempt to distract from the real issue: this governor does not want to invest in public schools.
If you truly believe in reform, Governor, let’s talk. But if your plan is to gut the system, silence local boards, and hand our schools over to private contractors and “ESA innovation zones”—you’re not reforming education, you’re defunding and dismantling it.
We stand with AASB. We stand with local boards, superintendents, and school employees who are fighting to hold this system together in the face of political attacks and economic neglect. If the governor wants to “inform the public,” we’re ready for that conversation.
We’ll bring the truth. You bring your record.
Spot on, Mike! 51st in the nation, just give us more money, who needs reform?
Excellent governor! Thank you for the words of all Alaskans!
Well said Governor Dunleavy!!