Dunleavy Knows Best is the theme of his education 'reform' plan

One of the things that has been lost in the claim that schools need “reform” is that Gov. Mike Dunleavy is not proposing real changes to do what he claims he wants to do.

Dunleavy has introduced House Bill 76, which should be titled “Dunleavy Knows Best.”

It's a one-size-fits-all attempt by Dunleavy to strip power from local school districts and give it to himself and appointed officials who will follow his orders. The lack of respect for school officials and elected leaders across the state is the most striking element of Dunleavy Knows Best. He acts as if he has all the answers.

Ban cell phones? Fund incentives for teachers? Provide grants to support reading? Boost correspondence schools? Create charter schools?

Almost every item in the alleged reform package should be handled by local school boards and local school districts. School board members, superintendents and school leaders don’t need the top-down orders from Dunleavy.

Republican legislators are hiding behind the Dunleavy Knows Best fraud, refusing to admit that the real reform Alaska needs is decreased class sizes. The way to decrease class sizes is to hire and retain qualified teachers. The way to do that is to increase education funding.

Dunleavy opposes increased education funding without the inclusion of his power grab proposals. The Legislature should push ahead on increased funding for school districts. The hollowness of Dunleavy Knows Best has to be better understood and explained.

There is a way to pay for all of this. I will deal with that shortly.

I was glad to see these words from Sen. Lisa Murkowski about Elon Musk’s idiotic weekend email directive to federal employees:

If Elon Musk truly wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week, he should get to know each department and agency, and learn about the jobs he's trying to cut. Our public servants work hard to ensure that our national security is protected; that planes land safely; that forest fires do not spread to our homes; that Social Security checks arrive on time; that research for the breakthroughs needed to cure diseases like cancer and ALS continues; and much more. Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it.

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