On Tuesday, the Alaska Legislature had the opportunity and responsibility to secure stable and meaningful investment in our children’s education. With the override vote on HB 69, lawmakers were given a chance to rise above political posturing and provide the first real increase to the Base Student Allocation (BSA) in nearly a decade. They failed. Seven no votes. That’s all it took to deny our public schools the $1,000 per-student increase so many have been fighting for, not for political gain, but for survival. Our students, educators, and families are not abstract line items in a budget. We are not “special interests.” We are the very people who hold up the future of this state. And yet, 27 elected officials chose to turn their backs on us. Their “No” votes were loud and clear: They do not believe our children, especially those in underfunded, rural, and urban schools deserve a fully resourced, safe, and equitable education. They chose the Governor’s austerity politics over our students’ needs. They chose silence in classrooms over music. Larger class sizes over individualized attention. Closures over community.
Let’s be honest: this was never just about numbers. This was about priorities. Those who voted against the override would like us to believe Alaska can’t afford to fund its public education system. But for the last seven years, they found money for everything but schools for tax credits, bloated bureaucracies, private interests and the Permanent Fund Dividend, which somehow remains sacred while our kids go without updated textbooks, working heat or school counselors. Meanwhile, school districts across the state now brace for catastrophic consequences. Layoffs. School closures. Slashed programs. And most devastatingly, students losing opportunities they may never get back. As a mother of five, a teacher and the Alaska education chair for the NAACP Tri State Area Conference, I am furious. But I am not surprised. We’ve seen this coming. We’ve been warning them. We’ve testified, rallied, and begged. This veto was a betrayal. The failure to override it was a choice. Let me be clear: this is not over.
This doesn’t just impact students and teachers. It affects all of us. When schools suffer, communities suffer. When education is unstable, workforce readiness declines, mental health needs go unmet, and family stress skyrockets. Local businesses lose future workers. Property values drop. Crime and disengagement increase. These outcomes do not stay confined to the walls of a school; they ripple through every neighborhood, every economy, every generation. Well-funded public education is a public good. It is the bedrock of a strong democracy, a healthy economy, and a just society. Undermining it undermines us all. To those who stood with us, the 33 House and Senate members who voted to override, we see you. We thank you. And to the others: we’ll be seeing you, too. Because this is not just about a failed vote. It’s about a fight for the soul of public education in Alaska, and we are not backing down.
Roz’lyn Grady-Wyche is Alaska state education chair for the NAACP Tri-State Area Conference, and also a special education teacher and mother.
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