Gov. Sean Parnell is calling the education funding increase approved by the Alaska Senate last week the “ultimate giveaway,” and saying the increase would actually cost the state half a billion dollars.
Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, said she was “appalled” by the governor’s comments.
Parnell said he’d be OK with some extra money for higher heating costs or similar expenses, but that the Senate went overboard with its increase to the base student allocation, the per-student amount provided by the state to local districts.
“They have just spent half a billion dollars more on education and they have not required results or anything transformational with the system,” he said.
Even the help with heating costs shouldn’t be part of a formula that provides more assistance when fuel prices are high, he said.
The Senate’s bill provides an additional $125 per student next year to the BSA, for a total of $30.6 million. Parnell’s mention of half a billion dollars comes from adding that amount, similar increases the next two years and the next four years of expected spending after that, for a total of $475 million.
In a testy exchange with reporters, Parnell denied his budget proposal for no BSA increase was flat-funding education.
“I’ve never said we’d flat-fund education this year, that’s apparently something that you’ve construed from somebody else’s spin,” he said.
Parnell said he’s been willing all along to let the Legislature add one-time money to the education budget, which means he’s not for flat-funding education.
Kerttula said the Senate’s bill would help, but it still wouldn’t meet the cost of inflation and prevent education cuts.
“If we don’t do something we’re going to lose 66 people in the Juneau School District,” she said. “That’s a cut to education, and that’s unacceptable in the richest state in the union.”
Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage and leader of the Senate Bi-partisan Working Group, the caucus that controls the Senate, said the $125 increase was a good number to go forward with.
He acknowledged that educators would like more, however.
“I’ve never met one yet that hasn’t asked for a bigger number,” he said.
Senate Rules Committee Chairman Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, said the Senate bill was kept modest to help it get through the House of Representatives.
“We wanted a bill that was not designed to embarrass the House with a big number that would make educators happy” but would be unlikely to pass, Ellis said.
House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, and other leaders say they agree with Parnell that a BSA increase isn’t appropriate, but that one-time funding would be acceptable.
• Contact Reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or at patrick.forgey@juneuaempire.com
Comments (33)
Add commentParnell's comments are revealing
Bleeding out the mineral wealth of our state and turning his back on the best investment we can make as a society---He clearly doesn't place any stock in the value of public education
laughable
I laughed out loud when I read the Governor's comment that increasing funding for education was the "ultimate giveaway."
To me the "ultimate giveaway" is twisting the Senate's arm, hoping you get a $2 billion/year giveaway to the oil companies with absolutely no promise of anything in return.
THAT is the ultimate giveaway, Governor.
Oh Empire!
You got your stories all jumbled up again. No doubt your reporters are drinking too much coffee or something.
The quote from Parnell was related to the oil tax topic, and it went like this: “I want to give the oil companies two billion dollars per year and not require any results.”
Now that sounds more like our governor, doesn't it?
BSA increase has never helped before
Of course they want a bigger number with no accountability. That's how it's worked all along. Have there EVER been any increase in graduation rates, in standardized test scores or ANY positive movement in ANY indicators following an increase in the BSA. Look it up if you like but I'll save you the research - the answer is NEVER. So obviously increasing it again is just throwing good money after bad. Sorry the truth appals you Rep. Kertulla. But the facts speak for themselves.
It's so nice to have free money
It's so nice to have free money, so much so that a half billion dollars over the next several years, with no requirements or standards, is just pocket change and no one should complain. Apparently we have so much of this free money in Alaska we don't even have to worry about the cash cows and whether they'll be able to sustain the waterfall of cash flowing through the state.
Kerttula , & Ellis are just
Kerttula , & Ellis are just tools of the "Education Industrial complex".
Not the Answer
It's not the answer to DENY education funding.
Denying money to education is not going to improve it.
Punishing kids is not the answer.
The BSA should go ONLY to teachers and people who work with kids. Could the bill be modified to mandate that districts layoff 15-25% of the personnel who don't actually work with kids on a daily basis? Can bills be modified in the House?
Money isn't the answer. We
Money isn't the answer. We throw more and more money at education, but it sure doesn't seem to effect the end result. The kids coming out of high school seem to be less and less able to perform basic job tasks every year.
Sour Grapes
Sounds like the governor has sour grapes with the Senate. A big giveaway with no required results sounds more like his oil tax giveaway than the "ultimate" giveaway to education. Now even the house is starting to question his motives.
laughable
some posters comments are simply laughable. They write of the need to have more accountability while previously posting how the State should not be the ones to take over failing school districts.
Meanwhile the governor wants to profess he can "fix" education by doing things his way. I had not realized the governor alone is the only one endowed with knowledge on how to "fix" schools.
There are a few things that could help set the direction for school improvement. Among those are ending the policy local school boards alone making all decisions without having to follow any real criteria. Local districts set priorities that sometimes are more in tune with social programs and community uses of facilities than student achievement goals.
“They have just spent half a
“They have just spent half a billion dollars more on education and they have not required results or anything transformational with the system,” he said. Governor, give the good teachers the tools they say they need and leave them alone. This requires you supply the good teachers to begin with. Not adventure-seeking wanderers, helpers or students themselves or thinking a computer monitor can replace human interaction. Those things do not provide what I had. Real school, in real buildings, with real teachers. Call me an old school idealist but that`s how I see it.
The gov is starting to sound
The gov is starting to sound unhinged and I might too if I watched a big pile of money that could be invested wisely given to school districts so they can raise the admin staff to teacher ratio.
Why would anyone undercut
Why would anyone undercut education funding for Alaskan kids?
PARNELL
RECALL RECALL
Sean...You need to be Edjumuhcated
Boy, are you having a bad day! You need to fire whatever Einstein is advising you because dude, you are digging a huge hole with that mouth of yours. The words "politically inept" pale alongside your surly demands regarding your 2 Billion Dollar Giveaway, and this article, wherein you tick off the rest of us Alaskans by dissing education. This state leans right so hard it can't walk straight, but if you are actually trying to ensure you have no chance at reelection, you are moving along the right path. So what's next Sean? Have the Koch brothers told you yet?
P.S... The "Ultimate Giveaway"
is that stinking HB110 of yours.
There is no discussion of
There is no discussion of Teachers pay. It's still some of the highest in the nation but without meeting some of the highest standards. Is there a method for correlating pay to results ?
Gov. Sean Palin Parnell
WOWWW... I thought we just had the dumbest governor ever in the history of the United States, but you are on the fast track to win that title... You would think the 7 year long Moore trial would teach you something about underfunding districts... But you're right, the billion dollar oil companies need more money because they haven't made enough over the years... I can't wait until you get your butt kicked next election...
This guy is a real piece of
This guy is a real piece of work. His comments seem like something one would read in THE ONION. Seriously, I have to check when I read the headlines of his comments to make sure I'm actually reading The Empire.
I really never thought that Alaska would ever have a governor worse that Frank Murkowski. Boy, was I ever wrong. Aside from his jet and his overbearing arrogance, Frank was a swell guy compared to this clod. Parnell makes me long for the return of Sarah. If my neighbor's one-eyed, three-legged, flea-bitten mongrel is willing to stand in the next election I'd even vote for it over the whimpering little pricktwister we currently have in office.
How fun to watch Knee-Jerk Juneau comments
Former governor Sarah Palin came up with the current tax scheme that is causing the oil industry to seek more profitable oil sources. The Dim-Dems in the Senate want to throw more money at public education to pay off their pals in the teachers union and Beth Kerttula is offended by the truth when it is spoken by the governor.
Public education graduates about 60-70 percent of the students who started in kindergarten (a D in my gradebook) but supporters of throwing more money at public education say the governor's efforts to incentivize oil companies to fill the Alaska pipeline are stupid!
This is what brings me back to reading the Juneau Empire--you can't make this stuff up!
Donn the Troll
Gracing us with his brilliance yet again.
Yup, the schools are getting a D, and Parnell is getting an F. C'mon donn, you've spent enough time around failing students. You were probably responsible for a few failures yourself.
Donn just has a burr towards
Donn just has a burr towards the education establishment and the city of Juneau because both failed to recognize his brilliance. I always thought he was an okay guy.
Legislators need to hear from
Legislators need to hear from their constituents to know that the modest increases passed by the Senate are the least they can do to support our schools. SB 171 passed the Senate and the ball is now in House Finance's court. Here are the finance committee's email addresses:
Representative_Mike_Doogan@legis.state.ak.us, Representative_Bill_Stoltze@legis.state.ak.us,
Representative_Bill_Thomas@legis.state.ak.us, Representative_Mike_Hawker@legis.state.ak.us,
Representative_David_Guttenberg@legis.state.ak.us, Representative_Anna_Fairclough@legis.state.ak.us,
Representative_Tammie_Wilson@legis.state.ak.us, Representative_Bryce_Edgmon@legis.state.ak.us,
Representative_Les_Gara@legis.state.ak.us, Representative_Mia_Costello@legis.state.ak.us,
Representative_Mark_Neuman@legis.state.ak.us, Representative_Reggie_Joule@legis.state.ak.us
Panell, Panell, Panell, same as always
Panell supports spending 500 million, or more likey a billion, on mega transportation projects, i. e. the Juneau Road, but not for spending it for the education of all of our states children? Our Gov has a twisted mind when it comes to spending money.
Panell, Panell, Panell, same as always
Panell supports spending 500 million, or more likey a billion, on mega transportation projects, i. e. the Juneau Road, but not for spending it for the education of all of our states children? Our Gov has a twisted mind when it comes to spending money.
Panell, Panell, Panell, same as always
Panell supports spending 500 million, or more likey a billion, on mega transportation projects, i. e. the Juneau Road, but not for spending it for the education of all of our states children? Our Gov has a twisted mind when it comes to spending money.
I have a hard time beliving
I have a hard time believing that the above commenters really think that Juneau teachers are getting the highest pay, or are working less or only eight hours a day. Every teacher I know, and I know a lot of them, work many hours after school. We have had a problem with teacher's pay, its that many of our teachers did go south to get better pay for their work, why, because Juneau pay was one of the lowest when cost of living was counted in. They were head hunted mostly from Nevada schools. Things have changed because of the economic down turn in the lower 48, but I don't think our teachers are getting the highest pay in the country. Note: my wife, who brings in the family income, is a S. ED. middle school teacher, and has senority, but we are not rich to say the least.
AK DONN
As you claim to be a formal educator yourself I can only feel pity for any student who was under your tutelage in the past. I can only imagine how many D's and F's you gave to students due to your poor teaching. You strike me as a Foxnew's enthusiast who filters in with Tea Party sentiment constructed by the Koch brothers... The only "Dim Dem" dimwits I see in this situation are you and Parnell...
Juneau's overworked teachers.
Imagine that those poor teachers actually work more than eight hours per day! How outrageous is that? And imagine how that happens at least nine months a year. Cry me a handful.
This is not to say that they don't deserve to be paid well; when I worked 9 years for NEA-Alaska in Juneau I was an active advocate for teacher pay and benefits. Unfortunately, in the 1990s the seasoned teachers were all RIPed (Thank you Jim Duncan) so they could retire with a big payout and go someplace else to continue their careers and get regular TRS payments from Alaska, too. Now, every district in the state hires cheap teachers, expensive administrators, and plenty of busy-workers to reduce the unemployment rolls.
It's a racket, and you can always count on the teachers to surround themselves with "the children" and declare their commitment to excellence in education. Given the flat rate of test scores over the decades, we all know it's a bait-and-switch. All they really want is more money and no accountability.
You're a Ding-Donn
Seriously, most people that care for their jobs or for who their job pertains to (the kids) work more than 8 hours a day. I know a few teachers in Juneau who actually work 10 to 11 hour days and then come in on the weekends as well... But you keep on with your negative outlook on teachers in Juneau. Your supposition on testing data "over the decades" is "flat out" wrong. Justify your misleading comments with factual data and not your usual tongue in cheek drool...