Gov. Sean Parnell in his State of the State address asked Alaskans to “stand together to develop our most valuable resource — our children.”
But his budget this year didn’t provide what many education advocates think is a crucial part of that resource’s future, money to cope with rising costs in education.
“I have to admit I’m frustrated,” said Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, who has led the Democratic response to Parnell’s budget proposals.
Parnell’s budget this year included no increase to the formula used to fund education, which provides what is known as the Base Student Allocation. That’s the per-pupil amount of funding school districts receive, and is particularly valuable to districts because they get to control how it is spent.
Juneau School District recently announced the possible cut of 66 positions next year, which Kerttula said was just the first of many cuts likely to happen statewide.
“We’re not keeping up with inflation,” Kerttula said. “That means 66 people out of the Juneau School District and that’s going to be rolling into Anchorage and Fairbanks and right across the state,” she said.
Parnell, though, said given uncertain times, Alaska needed to retain financial flexibility by not increasing the formula amount that will result in more state spending not just this year, but in future years as well.
“I really am not interested in changing formula programs of whatever kind, BSA increases or other kinds, because I think in these difficult economic times and very uncertain economic times the state needs to remain as liquid as we can,” Parnell said at a press conference Thursday.
Parnell left the door open to one-time funding increases, extra spending that helps districts for a single year, but which doesn’t commit the state to future years — meaning districts can’t count on that money being there in the future either.
NEA-Alaska President Barb Angaiak said that’s not what the state’s schools need.
“I am shocked at the governor’s failure to address the needs of (kindergarten through 12th grade) education in Alaska after stating education as a priority,” she stated in a press release.
While Angaiak acknowledged what she called a “minimal number of construction/renovation projects and his own merit-based scholarship program” were among his priorities, she said that wasn’t enough.
She said, “flat funding” education doesn’t provide schools with the tools needed for students to compete in either the workforce or higher education.
While some influential leaders in the Senate have urged increases to the Base Student Allocation, Parnell said schools have already received “huge” budget increases.
Last year, he said, while the BSA was not increased, districts got a bump in their funding to help them deal with rising fuel costs.
“I’m open to talking about those kind of one-time, fixed-cost bumps,” he said.
Parnell said the $400 million he’s seeking to have committed to endow his scholarship program was different that adding to a formula program because it is a sustainable way to pay for one of his priority program.
Kerttula said the education foundation formula has been used for years to ensure fair funding for districts across the state.
She also questioned why the state was setting aside money for the next year’s education budget in a process called “forward funding,” and then making districts wait each year to see if there would be one-time funding to balance their budgets.
Parnell said he wasn’t surprised by the criticisms.
“It’s politics,” he said, noting that the criticism was coming from Democrats who want a BSA increase. “I understand how the system works here.”
• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or at patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.
Comments (23)
Add commentLeave it to Kerttula to carry
Leave it to Kerttula to carry water for the extremist NEA.
Education
Why don't the Alaskan Republican Senators and Congressmen want to help fund education? Didn't Juneau just plan to cut the Assistant Superintendent position, two superfluous assistant principals at the high schools, even the nurses?
If all that can happen and they still are making classes bigger for kids, shouldn't we be using our money to keep teachers and aides to help our kids? My kids' classes are huge compared to those my friends' kids had 7 years ago. Why?
Maybe they should change this BSA formula and make it a law for the money to focus on teachers and aides (like capping class size). That instead of giving a bunch of money to people (school boards) who can create jobs in "education" that don't educate kids.
We can just focus on the stuff that matters: our kids in the classroom.
Gov. Sean Parnell sees
Gov. Sean Parnell sees Alaskan children only needing a shovel or a pick for Alaskan jobs, while other countries spend their resource dollars educating and investing in their children and in building an economy for future Doctors, Scientists, Techs, manufacturing etc.
Thank you for speaking out on behalf of our childrens future Rep. Beth Kerttula
Lets also take a look at how
Lets also take a look at how many millions this Governor has wasted fighting the Federal Government or fighting Alaskans.
Does anyone one know what the figure is? Please also include staff salaries
@madison - would we expect
@madison - would we expect any different behavior from Kerttula?
Stand strong Gov. Parnell - this fight could get ugly. When the NEA sees their grip on power challenged they can get nasty.
Whatever you do, don't let the unions write classroom caps into their contracts.
Eric Hanushek, a leading scholar in the field of class sizes and teacher quality, offers a different theory.
“It’s employment protection,” Hanushek, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, told EAG. Hanushek explained that caps are a way of ensuring that a district is required to employ a certain number of teachers, even when tough financial times require schools to cut their budgets.
“And it makes a teacher’s job easier,” he said. “Fewer kids mean fewer papers to grade. There’s less work to do.”
Thank you moderators...
Thank you moderators...
Raise the allocation.
This republication would like to see the base student allocation increased. Keep the teachers; keep the aides; keep the nurses; educate the kids! Stop the bull crap politics.
Besides New York, I believe
Besides New York, I believe that Alaska has one of the highest BSA's in the nation. $14,000+?
It has been proven over and over that throwing more money at education does not produce better results.
Time to try something new and cheaper.
legislative per diem
Last year I remember well the increased per diem for the legislature, based on inflation. But when it came to school funding inflation could not be considered. I'll bet there a similar increase in legislative per diem this year. I'd also bet inflation for school funding will not be a factor in funding schools. Strange how inflation only affect legislators and not the rest of the State funded operations.
Beth, You are full of [filtered word]
Using JSD's published Budget Fact Sheet it quickly becomes apparent that JSD does NOT have a budget problem. They (as usual) have a resource allocation problem.
The bottom line:
FY 2013 Proposed operating budget = $73,046,516
FY 2013 Estimated Enrollment = 5000
FY 2013 Annual Per Pupil Dollars = $14,609
FY2013 Per Pupil Per Day = $81.00
FY2013 Per 25 Student Classroom Per Day = $2025.00
FY2013 Per 25 Student Classroom Per 180 Day Year = $364,500
Current Number of JSD Employees = (780) - Seriously?
Estimated Enrollment Divided by JSD Employees = 6.4 Pupils Per JSD Employee. (Which means there are nearly three OTHER employees for every certified teacher in JSD.
Average Annual Cost for Private K-12 tuition in the U.S. = $9500.00
You may draw your own conclusions but these are the facts.
If it is not possible for JSD to educate a classroom of twenty five K-12 Students on $350k + per year we're way past the point where the wheels have fallen off this bus.
http://www.juneauschools.org/district/administrative_services/our_budget
NEA - Alaska is one of Kerttula's top contributors
Kerttula is nothing more than a bought and paid for mouthpiece for the unions. The past three year's top contributors to Kerttula are all (yep, you guessed it) unions. Shocker. Let's face it Beth. We all know its not really for the kids. Its for your benefactors.
@patton - surprise, surprise,
@patton - surprise, surprise, huh?
How come it seems all the politicians with a D after their names are bought and paid for by some sort of union?
That's exactly why the left can't quit crying about the Citizens United ruling. The playing field was leveled a bit and now they're worried about their future chances of winning elections. So they scream louder because the Koch brothers or big oil fund the republicans.
Fair and square isn't in their vernacular when it comes to elections.
I concur. Sweatshop teachers
I concur. Sweatshop teachers are obviously superior to (somewhat) well-paid and respected teachers.
oh, Calypso, you are so right.....
So much better to be bought and paid for by an oil company or an investment bank, representing a CEO and a Board living in mansions in California or somewhere, as opposed to a union, who primarily represents your friends and neighbors, average working people right here in the state.
Who ARE you?
You know how sometimes at
You know how sometimes at night you wake up and hear a bumping sound? Or when you open the fridge and get the distinct impression something is missing? Or you're walking along the sidewalk after dark and you feel a malevolent presence?
That's Calypso.
He can also sometimes be seen on the wings of planes.
Even Obama knows....
Obama has proposed a broad set of reforms that clash with education union objectives, and which, if enacted, would substantially weaken the influence unions have had on American public education for decades.
The President has strongly supported market-based incentives, including merit pay for teachers and the expansion of charter schools, which tend to be non-union schools. The president said, “It’s time to start rewarding good teachers, stop making excuses for bad ones … Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom … the same stale debates have paralyzed progress and perpetuated our educational decline.”
Budget complications
One of the difficulties with our current system is that while school districts are expected to improve their "product" they are stymied by unknown funding. This makes building quality programs that address the various needs of students very difficult.
I realize that many people believe educating shouldn't include "various needs of students". But kids come to school on a wide spectrum of prepardness and schools are expected to teach ALL of them.
@stallison
That's all said with tongue in cheek right? You don't really believe that stuff do you?
JSD has been well monied for years and look what it got us. Every Year at budget time, the same old promises... we'll get it right this time.... If we only had some more funding for this program... Please don't look over our shoulder, you wouldn't understand what we do anyway...the same old "it's for the kids"
Parenell needs to find another scapegoat
Same newspaper, economic outlook for Alaska is good. This is just a political ploy to get tax breaks for his oil buddies, then they can contribute even more money to his campaign through their superpac, which is MUCH more well heeled than a teachers union.
Oh yeah, Beth got a whole $500 from NEA last year. WOW!
Calipso and Patton are just idiots with a computer. Bet they watch Faux news too, LOL. Just click on ignore user and it goes away. Kind of like spraying lysol. Do you two have lives? You comment on everything, and it always mean and nasty. I am so glad that I am not you.
Seriously?
eowyn typifies your typical close-minded individual.
When confronted with cold hard facts they resort to name calling, belittlement and sarcasm because they don't have an argument to counter or disprove the facts. And, rather than continuing with a civil dialog they'd rather just censor the messenger.
Newsflash: Facts are facts and they're not mean and nasty... They're reality.
Now you tell me who the idiot is.
There IS a rule
State law requires that at least 70% of education money doled out to school districts be spent on kids--via supplies, teachers and staff, and principals, NOT superintendents, utilities, etc. I realize that can be challenging with rising fuel costs, but it still should be the standard. Of course, not all educational improvements are money-driven, but many are. It is completely baffling that some of the same people who wave the flag and talk about democracy conveniently forget that a well-educated citizenry is critical to a successful society. And NCLB was supposed to level the playing field for as many students as we can. Rising tide raises all boats and a falling one, as in decreased funding and inflation, leaves everyone stuck in the mud until the next strong, bright leader comes along.
Calypso and Patton are
Calypso and Patton are informed on the "facts" before they post. That's the difference between the two groups of bloggers here, Libs tend to write how they "feel" about an issue rather than check facts. Read the following: http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/0911/education/flash.html
But tiki...
Even if Kerttula gets contributions from unions, there's no evidence to suggest that those contributions affect her actions. They're simply supporting someone whose values align with theirs.
Or at least that's the fiction you 'conservatives' read to each other your echo chamber. There's no need for campaign finance reform, Citizen's United doesn't pose a threat to our democracy, because your candidates are too morally pure to be affected by money. They'll vote for what's in the best interest of the country...which just happens to be in the best interest of our corporations too.
94% of the congressional candidates with the most money win their election.