All across the peninsula on Wednesday morning, teachers, administrators, volunteers, parents, and students stood together in protest of poor education funding by staging a “walk-in” demonstration.
Demonstrators gathered outside their schools before the opening bell with signs calling for changes to the way education funding is being approached by the Alaska government.
A walk-out movement began in early April when students in Juneau left class in a coordinated move and marched all the way to the capital building.
According to KPEA president LaDawn Druce, the walk-ins were similarly motivated but sought not to disrupt schools while in session. “We came up with the walk-in idea [which] is less disruptive to schools and their schedules. We did not want to impact parents negatively on any sort of transportation type issues and we do want it to be positive.”
In February, the legislature passed SB 140, a historic bill that included a $680 increase (roughly 11%) to the Base Student Allocation (BSA)–money the state gives school districts per student–as well as extra money for student transportation and reading intervention for K-3 students. It would have been the first BSA increase in the state since 2017, but Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed the bill because it did not include provisions from his proposed budget.
The legislature quickly mobilized in an effort to override the governor’s veto but failed to do so by a single vote. The failure was baffling to many, as an override only requires a 40-vote, joint session majority, and nearly all 60 legislators had already voted to approve SB 140. When the dust settled, however, the override fell just shy of the needed votes after several legislators had apparently experienced a change of heart–two of those from the Kenai Peninsula–and turned their previously “yes” votes into “no.”
On Monday, Apr. 15, the KPBSD Board of Education passed a budget that accounts for the district’s looming $13.7 million budget deficit in FY 2025. The new budget increases the peer-to-teacher ratio by one in most classrooms and comes with large cuts across the borough, like eliminating school pools and theaters.
“I don’t think I have honestly seen it this bad,” said Druce, a 30-year veteran of Kenai Peninsula education, of the current funding crisis.
The current legislative session is slated to end in about three weeks on May 14. As of yet, no permanent or temporary education funding has officially been passed.
