Gov. Mike Dunleavy told Alaska legislative leaders Friday that he will not extend the special session past its 30-day limit, sharply criticizing lawmakers for failing to take up his proposed education reforms.
The special session, which began Aug. 2, will end this weekend. In a letter to Senate President Gary Stevens and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, Dunleavy said he was “disappointed” the Legislature ignored the education items he placed on the call.
“The fact that Alaska ranks 51st in the nation in educational outcomes should have been addressed years ago,” Dunleavy wrote. “It should have been addressed in the last regular session. It should have been addressed in this special session. Yet it is clear that under the current leadership, there is no real interest in confronting the condition of Alaska’s public education system.”
Instead, the governor noted, lawmakers focused on additional funding without requiring improvements in performance. “The only result produced from this special session was additional money being appropriated to education with no expectations, no accountability, and no measurable outcomes required. That is not reform. That is not leadership. That is not what Alaska’s children deserve,” he wrote.
Dunleavy warned that if the Legislature again fails to enact reforms during the upcoming regular session, he is prepared to call lawmakers back into one or more special sessions.
“I have noted public statements from legislators that they intend to take up meaningful education policy in the next regular session,” he said. “I hope that proves true, but if past inaction is any indicator, I have serious doubts.”
The governor said his administration will watch closely when lawmakers reconvene in January.
“Our children’s future is at stake. They cannot afford more years of delay,” Dunleavy wrote.
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