‘That is a shame’: Dunleavy blasts liberal lawmakers for ignoring education reform and focusing on money

On the eve of a special legislative session, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a pointed statement criticizing the leadership of the Alaska Legislature for its priorities, saying some lawmakers appear more interested in overriding his vetoes than addressing what he describes as a crisis in public education.

“The Alaska Legislature will gather in Juneau tomorrow for a special session focused on public education reform and increasing Alaska’s food production and security,” Dunleavy said in a statement released Friday. “There are reports that legislative leadership plans to hold at least two veto override votes before gaveling out and departing the capitol building for the airport.”

Dunleavy lamented what he sees as a lack of action on substantial reforms.

“No hearings on bills to improve Alaska’s dismal student test scores, no effort to lift the public school system from 51st in the nation, no tribal compacting to improve educational opportunities for our rural and Native students, and no apparent desire to prevent high school seniors from being unprepared because they don’t have the skills needed to compete for good jobs in the increasingly competitive 21st century economy,” he said. “That is a shame.”

The governor, who has made education reform a central plank of his administration, pointed to the Alaska Reads Act — passed in 2022 by a single vote, as evidence that policy changes can lead to measurable improvements. He said the results since then have validated his position.

“Three years later, reading test scores prove that policy improvements make all the difference,” Dunleavy said. “The problem is some lawmakers don’t seem to care. If they do, they wouldn’t squander every opportunity they’ve had to continue that improvement in other core areas like mathematics and writing.”

Instead, Dunleavy said, the focus remains on funding, not outcomes.

“Public discourse is all about money. They say if we only spent more of it the scores would improve. That is the same excuse that has been made for decades,” he said. “As soon as more money is approved, the special interest groups and unions get very quiet.”

Alaska has among the highest per-student education spending in the country, the governor noted. He emphasized that since 2019, state funding for public K-12 education has increased by over $1.5 billion, and that even after his vetoes, the most recent budget includes the largest increase to the Base Student Allocation in state history.

“The budget I signed this summer contained a BSA increase of $500 per student,” Dunleavy said. “Even with my partial veto, that’s still the largest BSA increase in state history.”

He closed his statement by calling on lawmakers to take responsibility and work with him during the special session.

“Here is the question I have for lawmakers who have resisted any meaningful education reforms,” he said. “If the legislature is not responsible for public schools — who is? I encourage Alaskans to ask their representatives and senator the same question.”

“We know what is needed to improve educational outcomes for students. The policies have been vetted and discussed for years. I am ready to work the next 30 days with senators and representatives, school board members, superintendents, teachers, anyone who wants to make our school better.”

The special session begins Saturday in Juneau. It’s unclear if the Legislature has the votes to override the governor’s veto of a portion of the increases to education that was passed during the regular session. Dunleavy said such increases should be accompanied by policy changes that could lead to better performance, such as more charter schools, tribal compacting, and other reforms.