New charter school bill emerges hours before Dunleavy’s veto deadline

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – A new House charter school bill emerged Thursday morning as the clock continued to loudly tick toward a midnight deadline for Gov. Mike Dunleavy to either compromise with lawmakers over a massive $246 million education package that passed the Legislature last month, veto the bill, or let it become law without his signature.

The charter school bill, which features one of the priority items the governor had said was needed to avoid a veto, was referred to the House Education Committee as a House leadership news conference was delayed until 3:45 p.m. Thursday.

At the news conference, House Speaker Rep. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, said she saw Thursday’s development as a positive, a sentiment shared by Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, who said he hopes it’s a sign both chambers can work on a compromise with the governor past the veto deadline.

“I think making a really big policy shift like that in just a couple of days is too big of a lift. So maybe what it signals is that we’re continuing the dialogue, and we’re going to continue this discussion,” he said.

However, both Tilton and Wielechowski said they are still uncertain about the possibility of a veto.

“I have been told by the governor’s office that they have until midnight so we might not know anything for quite some time,” Tilton said.

Early Thursday, Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage, said he got the impression the governor was still weighing his options.

The fast-moving Thursday atmosphere came after multiple lawmakers expressed uncertainty Wednesday about the bill’s fate and what action the governor would take.

“We’ve been working closely with the governor and his staff to reach a compromise. We don’t know where that is, at this point,” Senate President Gray Stevens, R-Kodiak, said Wednesday.

The statement came as fellow Senate Majority members joined Stevens during a news conference, saying lawmakers were still trying to work out agreements over the governor’s priorities, including charter schools and teacher bonuses, which Dunleavy had said needed to be added to the bill as he threatened a potential veto two weeks ago.

Dunleavy has until midnight Thursday to make a decision. If he does not, the bill would essentially go into effect, setting up the potential for Dunleavy to issue line-item vetoes at a later date.

“I’ve made it clear that if there are not certain elements in that bill it’s not going to be signed into law,” Dunleavy said during a Feb. 27 press conference.

That bill includes a historic $175 million increase to the state’s per-student school funding formula, known as the Base Student Allocation, or BSA, which breaks down to a $680 per-student increase.

“We got half the job done. But if it’s just going to be about money and nothing else, I’m not interested in this bill becoming law,” Dunleavy went on to say during last month’s news conference.

Dunleavy, and his administration, have continued arguing the funding increase alone will not holistically solve ongoing education system problems, like keeping teachers in Alaska or adding more charter schools, which he strongly feels will start to address the root of the school performance problem.

Speaking Wednesday, Wielechowski made it clear that while lawmakers have continued talks with the governor as recently as Tuesday night, Dunleavy’s position that governor-appointed state school board members have the authority to approve charter schools is still considered a “non-starter.”

“There was a willingness in our discussions, on our part, to really try to shorten the timeframe for charter schools to become charter,” Wielechowski said. “Right now, it could take 240 days. We have had discussions about cutting that time in half.”

However, the Anchorage senator said there are difficult structural issues involved in increasing charter school access.

“That’s just not something we’re going to figure out in the next two days. That’s something that’s going to take a lot of future hearings, a lot of discussion, quite frankly, probably going to be pretty expensive,” he said.

Meanwhile, after a series of Senate Education Committee hearings over the governor’s $61 million plan to pay for a three-year teacher bonus pilot program, to study if $5,000 to $15,000 payouts based on the school’s location successfully recruits and retains Alaska teachers, Senate Education Chair Löki Tobin echoed previous funding concerns.

“I cannot speak for the governor, or the governor’s office, on what their interpretations of what we heard in committee were. But I can speak to mine,” Tobin said. “Which is for the price tag that’s associated for a policy that has yet to be clearly fleshed out. To understand what the real goal and purposes are to be able to replicate it across the districts, is still very incomplete.”

Tilton said lawmakers have been exploring teacher bonus options with the governor’s office, considering the money may not be there in the first year.

One option, Speaker Tilton said, could be to scale up the bonuses with each successive year. For example, instead of paying $5,000 each year, for three years, offer $1,000 in year one and $5,000 in year three.

House Minority leader Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, said it has been very hard for lawmakers to consider passing new legislation in the roughly two-week time frame.

“I sincerely hope that the governor will recognize the value of Senate Bill 140, and not veto the legislation given that it does provide so much support to our school,” Schrage said.

The governor’s office has previously said if lawmakers show an understanding about Dunleavy’s teacher bonus and charter school priorities moving forward, they would not have to pass new legislation by the Thursday veto deadline.

If the governor issues a veto, lawmakers say they anticipate there will be a joint session on Monday.

“The plan is if there is a veto by midnight on Thursday, we will try to meet immediately,” Stevens said.

The governor’s office has not said if they will use a news conference or statement to announce their veto decision.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information.

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