In a surprise move Tuesday, a legislative conference committee stripped close to $13 million in public education funding.<\/p>\n
The House and Senate Operating Budget Conference Committee removed a $50 increase to the Base Student Allocation that\u2019s required by statute in an education reform package passed in 2014.<\/p>\n
The six-member conference committee is made up of Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks, Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, and Chair Sen. Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks. Gara, the lone minority member, was the only one to object and vote no on the motion.<\/p>\n
Previous to this committee, both the House and the Senate had the $50 BSA increase included in the operating budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really unfortunate that at this late in the game, something like this did happen,\u201d Rep. Chris Tuck said on the House Floor Tuesday. \u201cWe are circumventing the public process by not ever having school districts, parents, teachers and students be able to discuss and talk about a potential cut like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Juneau School District Superintendent Mark Miller agreed. Not getting the increase means a $500,000 hole in the budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo not have any committee discussion on it or allow any public input, it feels like we\u2019re using kids as pawns in a political chess game, and I find that morally reprehensible,\u201d he said on the phone Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Many legislators did not see the move coming, not even members of the Republican majority. Juneau Republican Rep. Cathy Mu\u00f1oz called it an \u201cunusual maneuver.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of us, myself included, were taken by surprise,\u201d she said on the phone Wednesday, \u201cand so a group of legislators are working together to try to get that restored.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mu\u00f1oz said several members \u2014 including Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, and others she called \u201cthe more moderate faction of the caucus\u201d \u2014 are working hard to get the conference committee to rescind the action.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s another way to get it restored, Mu\u00f1oz said. She said the majority is trying to get support from the minority to fund the operating budget by accessing the Constitutional Budget Reserve, something the minority has been unwilling to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would take a three-quarter vote and so in order to get a three-quarter vote, the minority will want certain things added back,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said.<\/p>\n
With the session in its last day, she said the political process can be \u201cmessy, but it\u2019s all part of the endgame and all I can say is that I\u2019m doing everything I can to get the BSA restored.\u201d<\/p>\n
Juneau Democratic Representative Sam Kito III called taking away the $50 BSA increase \u201cdisingenuous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just trying to put us under pressure in the Minority, and it\u2019s a direct affront to the students, teachers and school districts in Alaska,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
JSD Superintendent Miller said he\u2019s not sure what the district will do if the stripped BSA goes through. He said 90 percent of funding goes to personnel, and cuts to that can\u2019t be made at this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already offered contracts to the people we would\u2019ve had to lay off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Miller also said he\u2019s also not going to get completely worked up about the BSA cut until it actually goes through.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n
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