Rep. Petersen Comments on Governor’s One-Time Education Funding Proposal

March 7, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rep. Petersen Comments on Governor’s One-Time Education Funding Proposal

“One-Time funding is not a commitment to education”

Today, Representative Pete Petersen (D-Anchorage) released the following statement in response to the governor’s proposal to add $30.3 million of one-time funding to the budget to help schools with energy and transportation costs.

“It is encouraging to see that the governor recognizes his proposed budget wasn’t enough to give our schools the resources they need, but unfortunately this additional one-time funding won’t even cover the costs of inflation and will only leave our schools with even more ground to make up next year. One-time funding is not a commitment to education. It keeps schools from falling farther behind this year, but it leaves schools wondering whether they’ll have the same resources and opportunities next year that they had the last. We forward fund education to avoid this problem, but if we don’t keep up with inflation or give long-term commitments to our schools, local school districts still end up waiting each year to see if the state will meet their basic needs. That’s short-sighted, and if we don’t give our schools the resources they need to excel, our children and our economy will pay the price. In short, relying on one-time funding forces schools to consider where to cut, not where to improve, and Alaska’s children deserve better.”

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