The Alaska Senate Finance Committee dropped the accountability requirements out of an education funding bill and left it with just one simple thing: a $1,000 increase to the Base Student Allocation, the state’s funding formula for schools. The rate would go from $5,960 to $6,950 and is expected to pass the Senate as early as Friday.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he will veto the bill, which is now a committee substitute version of House Bill 69.
“The Senate’s new education bill is a joke! It does absolutely nothing to improve educational achievement,” Dunleavy wrote on X. “It does absolutely nothing to support our high-performing charter schools and our popular home schools. This is an obvious attempt to strong arm members of the legislature. This is an NEA teacher union dream! Hundreds of millions of dollars of new spending and no accountability called for. Welcome to Alaska: 51st in the nation in educational outcomes. In what world does one write a blank check with no expectations? Unless it is amended to address needed policies, if this lands on my desk, it’ll be vetoed immediately.”…