School funding hot topic

MAT-SU -- With recent announcements of proposed cuts in both the Mat-Su Borough and Anchorage, concern over the fate of Alaska's K-12 education hasn't escaped legislators in Juneau.

Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, was in the Valley Saturday to discuss his new six-part education plan with Valley residents. He held a town meeting Saturday afternoon at Mat-Su College to gather comments on the plan, and said afterward he was surprised at the number of comments and proposals offered at the meeting.

Around 60 people visited the meeting throughout the afternoon, and most agreed the current funding situation for education was dismal.

"Our state offers a second-rate education system," said Kathy Summers. "Our Constitution says the Legislature is supposed to fund and provide an education for the people in this state. The community is doing all it can -- the state needs to take a forward step."

Kohring said he understood Summers' assessment of the situation.

"We collectively agree; we need more money -- and we're trying to find this money," Kohring said.

Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, took part in the meeting as well, and presented a proposal he has been pushing in the Legislature, although he acknowledged it may not get far, given the composition of some committees it's been assigned to.

Gatto's plan is to institute a $100 head tax on cruise ship passengers visiting the state. Alaska, Gatto said, is one of the few cruise ship destinations not currently paying a head tax. With an estimated 800,000 passengers visiting the state via cruise ships each year, Gatto said, the tax could generate $80 million in its first year of institution. But the plan has not gathered much favor among his colleagues, Gatto said, a fact that could be due to powerful lobbyists who work in Juneau on behalf of the cruise ship industry.

"They have three of the top-paid lobbyists in the state and another two in the top 10," Gatto said, "and I'm just a guy from Palmer who lives on Trunk Road."

The bill proposing the tax, Gatto said, is languishing in a subcommittee of the House Special Committee on Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, chaired by Rep. Cheryll Heinze, R-Anchorage, and may not be moved forward. Among contributors listed on Heinze's Alaska Public Offices Commission report, are contributions from Princess and Holland America cruise lines.

"It will die, I'm sure, and you will not hear about it before the end of the session," Gatto said, adding that cruise ship industry lobbyists have said instituting a head tax is not legal, while attorneys Gatto requested to review the document said there was space for the tax in Alaska statutes.

Several teachers, members of the school board, parents and a few students attended the meeting, and most had suggestions for funding. Dan Kelly, a former member of the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, suggested slicing roughly half the money out of the state's permanent fund, and setting it up for use as an education endowment. The interest earnings alone, Kelly said, would fund yearly education costs, in addition to providing enough extra for inflation-proofing. The endowment idea, Kelly said, would also allow the state to pay the full cost of education, instead of requesting a local match from those residing within the state's organized boroughs.

Kohring invited Kelly to make a presentation to the House Ways and Means Committee, a body that has been tasked with finding solutions to the state's fiscal gap. Gatto commended the idea, but said the state was not able to deed money directly to education.

"It may be a great idea to have an endowment for education," Gatto said, "but you'd be fighting for something that's illegal. And besides being illegal, it's just about impossible. It would have no traction."

Others at the town hall meeting recommended using more traditional means of funding education -- sales taxes, income taxes, requiring those living in unorganized areas to organize into boroughs and help fund education in their areas and other plans. A few speakers suggested cutting administrative costs, both within the local school district and at the statewide level. A few brought up the recent pay increases negotiated through the Mat-Su Educators Association contract negotiations. Kohring pointed to that as a reason the state was having problems funding education without necessitating broad cuts.

"I think we're in a bind at the moment because of the teacher contracts," Kohring said, but when the comment elicited groans and boos from the crowd, he countered his statement with an explanation. "That's not taking away the fact that they do an outstanding job, but that is in part why we've got a budget crisis -- but, in part, it's also because the state has not kept up."

When a member of the audience asked what would fund education if Gatto's cruise passenger head tax failed, Gatto encouraged audience members to call not only their legislators, but those from around the state and encourage support. He also said legislators are looking at a lot of potential funding sources to fill the gap.

"I think everything's on the table," Gatto said. "We're well aware of what's available out there."

Kohring said he believes there may still be ways to make state government more efficient and, through cutting, find the money needed for education. Both legislators pledged to continue working on a solution to the problem during this legislative session.