Alaska legislators begin negotiations on education package as Gov. Dunleavy urges swift passage

As legislators start closed-door negotiations over an education package, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks in support of expanding charter schools and paying bonuses to teachers during a media conference in Juneau on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.

“You’ll never get educational reform in the state unless you come up with some multi-approach like we’re doing with this bill,” Dunleavy said. “Why do I say that? Because Alaska is not a far ... an exclusive Republican state in the Legislature. It’s not exclusively Democratic. It’s in the middle. So there are some folks that could stop this from happening or stop that from happening unless we get in the bill the parts and especially the reforms and the money to run schools.

“I mean, I can wear a pin too that says ‘give me a million dollars,’” Dunleavy said during his news conference, adding, “The clear frustration and emotion Gov. Dunleavy expressed during his press conference related to the opposition his education priorities are facing in the Alaska State Legislature is understandable.

In the Senate, lawmakers have broadly said they support a bill to increase the BSA without tying it to provisions related to home-schooled students, teacher bonuses, or charter schools. But Dunleavy has said he would veto such a bill, forcing lawmakers to craft a package of legislation to win the governor’s approval.

The teacher bonuses proposed by Dunleavy would range from $5,000 for teachers in urban Alaska to $15,000 for teachers in rural Alaska. The Legislature’s attorneys have warned the bonuses could violate collective bargaining agreements and the state constitution’s equal protection doctrine.

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