About 20 people, over half of whom were schoolchildren, drew on the sidewalk and driveway of the governor’s mansion with chalk Friday evening. Their messages admonished Gov. Mike Dunleavy for vetoing over $50 million in education funding from Alaska’s budget for the coming fiscal year when he signed it into law on June 12.
“It’s a joyous, colorful way to show what we want,” said Gwenna Corvez, a parent and teacher at Harborview Elementary.
While the chalk provided a youthful atmosphere, parents voiced their fatigue from the battle over education funding in Alaska in the past year.
“You would never ask businesses to run a business not knowing what their funding is six months before, or giving them funding and taking away funding and giving them funding within six months, which is what has basically happened in this Legislature,” said Lisa EaganLagerquist, former teacher and mother of two students at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé.
The 2025 legislative session was a rollercoaster for education funding. In April, Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 69, which contained a $1,000 increase to the Base Student Allocation, requesting additional policy considerations be added to the bill. In May, the Legislature passed HB 57, which included some of Dunleavy’s policy recommendations as well as a $700 increase to the BSA. That bill was also vetoed — however, the Legislature overrode the veto by a 46-14 vote.
The governor’s latest veto on June 12 has more immediate consequences, as it is unlikely the Legislature will pursue an override vote until they reconvene in January. Dunleavy cites depressed oil prices as the driving factor of his vetoes to the state budget this year.
“I liked the idea of doing it in a place, in that location, because it was directly to him, because I felt like the Legislature had done what we had hoped they would do at least as best they could,” said Paige McGuan, a Juneau School District employee and the mother of three children in public school.
At least two written slogans also aligned Dunleavy’s actions with President Donald Trump, “We need a leader not a Trump repeater” and “Stop copying the evil cheeto” next to a doodle of Trump.
Many of the parents outside the governor’s mansion are worried more teachers will leave Alaska schools because salaries might not keep up with inflation and the work will become increasingly difficult. Educators have stated the BSA has remained relatively unchanged since 2011, which has severely eroded the fiscal situation of districts statewide.
“We have big, big class sizes, they just keep swelling and swelling the past 16 years I’ve been here, and that’s a consequence of this,” Corvez said, reflecting on the challenges of being a teacher during budget cuts.
Parents also expressed fear the cuts might lead to loss of special education programs and after-school activities.
In addition to the impact on schools now, the written messages considered the long-term fallout of education cuts on Alaska.
“The people who are in school now are going to be every profession in the future,” EaganLagerquist said. “They’re going to be the writers, the reporters, the doctors, the insurance salesman, the cooks, the loan providers, the mayors, hopefully, the governor.”
The younger children delighted in their own wordings, often reading their messages out loud to friends and parents.
“Pick on someone your own size”
“Gutting education isn’t cool, Mike”
“Gut fish not schools”
“How would you get where you are without an education”
“I mean, that’s a learning experience in itself, even if they don’t quite understand it,” McGuan said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, I’m involved. I have an opinion. I can put it down. I can write it. And maybe someone will see it.’”
• Contact Natalie Buttner at natalie.buttner@juneauempire.com.
