Meeting with superintendents, Dunleavy threatens to veto compromise education bill

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is once again threatening to veto a compromise bill legislators hammered out to boost funding for the state’s public schools and make a variety of policy changes.

Dunleavy has yet to make the threat publicly. But Clayton Holland, the superintendent of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, said in an interview that the governor made his intentions clear in a teleconference with school district leaders from across the state Thursday morning.

“Really, what it ended up boiling down to is that he does plan to veto (House Bill 57),” Holland said.

It’s the first time the governor has indicated whether he’ll sign or veto the high-profile bill, which passed the Legislature by a combined vote of 48 to 11. Lawmakers in the bipartisan, Democrat-heavy majority caucuses have said boosting education funding is their top priority for this year’s legislative session, which is now entering its final weeks.

Asked about the meeting, the governor’s press office pointed to a midday statement on the governor’s social media accounts, which did not say explicitly whether Dunleavy planned to veto the bill.

“We need a system that delivers results, not just more spending,” part of the statement said.

House Bill 57 would boost long-term public school funding by increasing the basic per-student funding by $700. In an effort to compromise with Republicans in the House and Senate’s minorities, and the governor, lawmakers added a variety of education policy changes to the bill. Those range from a ban on student cellphone use to incentive grants aimed at boosting reading performance.

But Dunleavy wants more, Holland said. The governor told superintendents to lobby their local legislators to pass several additional policy items.

Dunleavy told superintendents to advocate for a statewide open enrollment system, which would allow students living in one district to enroll in another. He also asked for additional changes to state laws around charter schools, and for lawmakers to fund a reading incentive grant program included in House Bill 57 without expanding corporate income taxes on out-of-state companies, Holland said.

School districts, community members, business leaders and local elected officials have pleaded with lawmakers for years to increase formula funding for schools by raising the base student allocation. Leaders say they’ve been forced to close schools, increase class sizes and slash electives and career and technical education programs as the formula has remained largely unchanged since 2017.

Though lawmakers have provided one-time funding for public schools in recent years, district leaders say a boost to the funding formula is essential to stopping a cycle of cuts that have dramatically reduced their offerings.

“It feels like all of the students, even the students that are most in need, are being held as bargaining chips,” said Madeline Aguillard, the head of the Kuspuk School District, who also attended the meeting and confirmed the veto threat.

Lawmakers have said they’re confident they have the requisite 40 votes to override a veto of House Bill 57. At least six minority Republicans, one more than would be necessary, have said publicly they’d vote to override the governor.

But that may not be enough to actually boost education funding next school year.

The Alaska Constitution allows Dunleavy to issue line-item vetoes that reduce or eliminate spending, even if it’s required by state law. Holland, the Kenai superintendent, said Dunleavy had threatened to issue a line-item veto reducing school funding if lawmakers don’t pass the additional policy items he demands.

It would take 45 of 60 legislators to override a line-item veto, and it’s not clear that enough lawmakers would vote to do so.

The veto threat Dunleavy delivered to superintendents was first reported by the Alaska Landmine, a political news site.

It’s the second year in a row Dunleavy has threatened to veto a school funding bill unless lawmakers pass his preferred policies. Last year, he followed through on that threat, and the Legislature fell one vote short of overriding him.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.