The Dunleavy administration is trying a new tactic to promote an alleged “parental rights petition” and “educational reform petition” and boost Dunleavy’s efforts to direct more public money to private schools.

In 2019, Dunleavy claimed he was gathering signatures on a petition to submit to legislators to support a Permanent Fund Dividend of $3,000. He also claimed he had a petition to cap government spending. And a petition to pay back PFDs.

But there were no petitions. He was simply collecting names and addresses of people who could be called upon for political support, disguising the nature of the exercise by calling them “petitions.”

It appears he is doing the same thing again.

In addition to ads using a fake image of old men in a smoke-filled room claiming that imaginary men are trying to take away parental rights, a new petition ad asks, “Does Gov. Dunleavy hate kids?”

No, he says, he doesn’t hate kids. “I believe in public school choice for every student,” he says.

Dunleavy’s office refused to respond last week when I asked for the text of the alleged “parental rights petition” and the alleged “education reform petition.”

A new ad requests people to sign up to “petition for better public education in Alaska.”

I take this as an admission that the petitions do not exist.

In the process of collecting names and addresses for political purposes, Dunleavy is using state resources to spread his go-to half-truths about public education.

He claims neighborhood schools are failing and that creating more charter schools to substitute for neighborhood schools is a magic bullet. To hear him tell it, neighborhood schools and charter schools serve exactly the same mix of students and the latter are superior. The data doesn’t support his sweeping claim.

Dunleavy claims that unionized teachers are doing “everything in their power to prevent any progress outside of neighborhood schools and are limiting alternative public school models for teachers, parents and students.”

Dunleavy’s favorite “alternative public school model” is to divert public funds to private schools, which is unconstitutional, as Dunleavy testified to the Legislature a decade ago.

He also claims the process in state law to create charter schools doesn’t work because approval by a local school board is required. He wants to reduce the power of local officials and give his political appointees on the state school board the ability to create new charter schools.

He also claims the court ruling now under appeal to the Alaska Supreme Court has destroyed correspondence school education in Alaska.

The truth is far more complicated:

1. Some students in neighborhood schools are failing, many for reasons that have to do with family income, family background and conditions at home. Some students in charter schools are succeeding, many for reasons that have a lot to do with family income, family background and conditions at home.

2. Creating more charter schools would help some students. It would damage education for others by bleeding more resources from neighborhood schools. The students in charter schools, for the most part, are from families with higher incomes.

3. The process to create new charter schools, requiring the approval of local school boards, works fine and does not need to be revised. Dunleavy’s distrust of local governments and desire for more influence in this process is not a good reason for change, which the Legislature realized by rejecting his idea.

4. The court ruling did not destroy correspondence education in Alaska. The state just has to stop using public funds for private school tuition to come in compliance with the Alaska Constitution. The Dunleavy administration should have published draft emergency regulations by now to reduce the level of uncertainty.

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