ImPeach the cantaloupe

He’s just an over-ripe excuse for a Musk-Melon oligarchy, and their dew ain’t dropping on you.

Gordy Vernon

Homer

Providing adequate resources for education is not optional

Republicans, Democrats and Independents recently came together to pass legislation in the State House to partially restore school funding devalued by 10-plus years of inflation. We have seen class sizes increase, the elimination of extracurriculars and the threat of facility closures, all due to a lack of adequate funding.

Education isn’t just something that’s nice to support when economic times are good. Alaskans have a constitutional mandate to “establish and maintain” an education system, a duty Rep. Sarah Vance has failed to uphold by repeatedly voting against the funding necessary to maintain our school system.

I’ve listened to Rep. Vance tell us that first we need to increase efficiency, transparency, equity and accountability in schools for six years with zero results. Six years is a very long time in the life of a student in an underfunded school system. If you had contracted with Rep. Vance to build your house six years ago, you’d expect to be in it and not still living in your car in the driveway. During these same six years, Rep. Vance received a 67% pay raise while voting against any increase in the base student allocation.

The first step to improving all of our schools for all of our students is restoring the BSA to its previous level adjusted for inflation. If you agree, I urge you to reach out to Rep. Vance at RepresentativeVance@akleg.gov to encourage her to take this first crucial step.

Diana Carbonell

Homer