School districts have wrapped up their lobbying trip to the state capitol and some lawmakers are still unsure if they should increase education funding.
Among them are leaders in the Senate who have significant influence on the decision.
“The last three years we’ve seen the largest increase in education in a quarter of a century,” said Sen. Lyman Hoffman (D-Bethel), co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
They say it doesn't appear that money is the problem.
“We have to start seeing some positive, more desired results, better test scores, more people graduating and not having to do so much remedial training at the University of Alaska,” said Sen. Kevin Meyer (R-Anchorage).
Nonetheless, the bills out there, including a new one from Rep. Pete Petersen (D-Anchorage) would increase funding anywhere between $100 and $200 per student, per year, mostly to keep up with inflation.
“I know that cutting the funding is not going to solve the problem,” said Petersen.
“It is the state's responsibility to make sure that we do our best to educate our children, said Sen. Bettye Davis (D-Anchorage). “No better place for the discussion to begin than with us.”
As for scholarships, Gov. Sean Parnell wants to set aside a big chunk of money, a few hundred million dollars, to generate interest, which would pay for the schooling.
Senate leaders like the idea of funding scholarships, but think the governor's number is probably too much.
“From my standpoint its seems to me like there's a real disinclination on the part of the Senate to put that amount of money aside and to take it out of our savings,” said Senate President Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak). “It's possible, but I don't really see the votes to do that.”
Parnell wants to dole out scholarships based on performance, but expect senators to add a needs-based component, which they say will allow older Alaskans to go back to school and in some cases seek job training.
We’ll hear more from Parnell Thursday morning in a press conference.
