Dunleavy tries again to strip power from local school boards on charter schools, give three-year teacher bonuses
Gov. Mike Dunleavy could barely control his irritation during a press conference Friday at which he promoted his largely recycled ideas about education. The Legislature turned down several of them last year, for good reason.
This story in the Anchorage Daily News is accurate, as far as it goes. The same can be said of the Alaska Beacon coverage. And of the reporting by Alaska Public Media.
But these accounts do not capture the tenor of his complaints about “special interests,” his term for all those who disagree with him, especially unionized teachers. Or his demeaning comments about anyone who does not share his opinions. The ranting and raving is missing from the news coverage.
Dunleavy never stops complaining that those with other ideas about education simply want to spend money and don’t care about education policy.
In Dunleavy’s mind, anything that helps push public dollars toward home schools and charter schools—and away from neighborhood schools—is good policy.
Dunleavy wants to give more power to his appointees on the state school board to create charter schools, bypassing local school boards. Local governments and the University of Alaska—controlled by regents appointed by Dunleavy—would also be able to create charter schools.
He also wants to give cash incentives to teachers for three years, an approach that would do nothing to keep teachers more than three years.
He does not support a permanent increase in the base student allocation, the major means of support for public education. Dunleavy wants to direct funding into the things he likes—charter schools, correspondence, home schools, etc.
It was in the last 30 minutes of his presentation, which you can watch below, that the wheels came off.
Dunleavy claims reporters have failed to make it clear that he cares about policy, while “the other side” only cares about money. He cares about improving education. “The other side” doesn’t. He is the only one who can make things better. “The other side” doesn’t care about kids.
“I have to be honest with you guys, the narrative, the story is not complete. And it's not being written, I think, to be honest with you, in a complete fashion,” he said.
“I've been talking about policy and money for years. We put money in. We continue to put money in. We're putting money in this. Money, money, money’s going in. Money. So, let's just make sure we understand. Money is going in. Okay? So, thank you,” he said.
Dunleavy motioned to a reporter.
“She's going to write that down. ‘Dunleavy says money’s going in.’ At least somebody will. OK?”
He asked reporter Sean Maguire of the Anchorage Daily News if the reporter was OK with the poor performance of Alaska on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, with marks near the bottom of the nation. He asked Maguire if he would be excited about those scores if he ever has a child in school.
“Are you okay with that? Yes or no? Are you okay with this? Are you okay with this? Yes or no? There we go. There we go. No answer. No answer. No answer. Gotcha,” said Dunleavy.
“Is anybody in this room OK with us being at 51, 51st in our NAEP scores? Is anyone here, raise your hand if you're saying that's great. And then explain to me why because it might be a different universe I dwell in. We’re doing money. We’re not just focusing on charter schools. This is a complete package.”
“The other side just wants money and they want us to shut up about this,” Dunleavy said.
“That’s the problem. You can’t shut up about this, it stares you right in the face. I don’t know if people here in this room have children or are gonna some day. I can guarantee you this. You’re not just gonna kick them out the door, I hope, and just hope they come back home after four o’clock. I got a feeling you’re gonna try and figure out what’s the best environment for those kids.”
“My job, the moral imperative is for me to put policy forth that changes this paradigm. So I focused on neighborhood schools. I focused on charter schools. I focused on home schools. I focused on mission schools. I’m focused on tech schools. I’m focused on language immersion schools.”
“Just get your friends on the other side that are just focused on money to also talk about this,” he said, pointing to the poor Alaska showing on the NAEP charts.
He ranted on and on, pretending that in Alaska Dunleavy occupies one side, in pursuit of the best educational policies.
And the other side just wants money.
“So do me a favor, make the headline this: ‘Dunleavy asks why it’s just about money? And why there’s not just as strong as an effort to get policy? Ask. Can I pay you? I’ll buy, I’ll get a subscription to your newspaper if you put that headline on it.”
Dunleavy won’t accomplish anything this year on education policy unless he stops acting as if he has all the answers. He fails to show any respect for school boards, school administrators, teachers, legislators, reporters and news organizations. His delusion about “the other side” is insulting to the many people in Alaska who believe in public schools and are making a sincere effort.
When he pontificates on education, Dunleavy sounds like a second-rate junior high school principal berating a captive audience.
No one believes that money alone is the solution to Alaska’s education challenges.
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