Roughly 20% of Alaska’s 60 lawmakers come from public education careers, many as former teachers, professors, lobbyists, or school board members.
When including those tied to education advocacy, tutoring businesses, and NEA-aligned nonprofits, and former work as legislative aides, that influence may reach as high as 35%.
The majority of Alaska lawmakers do not come from the private sector; they’ve never signed the front of a paycheck, only the back. More than half — mostly all the Democrats — are from government careers, which explains why they do not focus on the economy, but only on spending and taxes. They don’t advance bills to support energy or resource development. They only focus on growing government programs and funding schools to the maximum extent possible.
Among the most prominent from the education industry are Reps. Andi Story and Sara Hannan of Juneau, both longtime public education insiders. Hannan is a former teacher and Story is a former school board member, co-founder of Great Alaska Schools and past president of the Alaska Association of School Board.
Rep. Maxine Dibert came to the Legislature straight from the classroom in Fairbanks. Rep. Rebecca Himschoot of Sitka retired from teaching after 24 years in the classroom, then ran for office. Rep. Ted Eischied of Anchorage was a teacher for 25 years. Rep. Ashley Carrick of Fairbanks was a teacher. Rep. Alyse Galvin of Anchorage is a cofounder of Great Alaska Schools. Rep. Andy Josephson taught in the Kuspuk School District in Lower Kalskag for four years.
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman of Nikiski was a teacher and NEA union official. Sen. Gary Stevens of Kodiak is a former professor. Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson was a teacher’s aide in the Anchorage, then an administrator and served on the school board. Then you can add in Republican Sen. Mike Cronk, a former teacher.
There are others who have NEA ties through part-time, substitute, and adjunct work.
The NEA-bloc routinely aligns with NEA-Alaska’s priorities, chief among them being an increased per-student funding without accompanying reforms to make schools more accountable.
NEA-Alaska, through its PACE political fund and lobbying muscle, has helped shape legislative outcomes by backing campaigns and mobilizing grassroots efforts, particularly in urban strongholds like Juneau, Anchorage, and Fairbanks. The override of HB 57 is the clearest sign yet that the NEA’s political investments have paid off.
These legislators show little concern for building the private sector economy and growing a stable job market in Alaska, even as Alaska faces a projected $400–500 million deficit for FY26.
Despite this, the Legislature, in overriding the governor’s veto of House Bill 57, chose to approve a $184+ million annual increase in education spending without identifying a durable funding source. Oil revenues, which once buoyed the state budget, now account for only about 30% of general fund income. The Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve Fund picks up most of the slack, and further draws risk destabilizing the annual dividend Alaskans rely on. Right now, the funding source is a raid on the economic development engine of the state and the higher education fund for scholarships. Later it will be taxes.
Supporters of HB 57 claim the increase is long overdue, pointing out that the Base Student Allocation has been flat since 2017, although the truth is that the Legislature and governor have awarded one-year increases every year for over a decade.
But throwing more money into the system does little good if it isn’t paired with structural reforms, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has argued. Administrative bloat remains a major problem in Alaska’s school districts: Between 2002 and 2020, administrative salaries rose 18%, while teacher pay increased just 1%.
Today, Alaska has approximately five non-teaching staff for every four teachers, an imbalance that diverts resources away from classrooms.
The education lobby’s opposition to any meaningful reforms, such as school choice, voucher programs, or stricter accountability measures proposed by Gov. Dunleavy, undermines the credibility of their funding demands.
HB 57 contains token policy gestures, such as minor adjustments to charter school processes and cell phone policies, but avoids any significant challenge to the NEA’s grip on public education. Voucher proposals and charter school expansions, backed by fiscal conservatives and some parent groups, continue to be stonewalled by the same bloc that pushed HB 57 through.
The override of HB 57 signals that organized special interests, especially those with deep roots in the education industry has, can dictate budget policy regardless of the state’s fiscal outlook. It weakens the executive branch’s ability to impose discipline in budgeting and puts added pressure on the Permanent Fund at a time when global oil markets remain volatile.
Gov. Dunleavy’s veto was a responsible attempt to force broader reforms and long-term sustainability. The Legislature’s override, driven by the NEA’s PACE political apparatus and the legislative bloc of former educators, was a rejection of that restraint.
In the short term, schools may get a funding boost. But in the long run, this decision deepens Alaska’s structural budget imbalance and further insulates an education system that has yet to deliver results commensurate with its cost.
I often wonder why there are so many issues with every form of government that involves unions in which you have to pay dues to be a member of so you get the big bucks raising the cost of everything, everywhere to the point that non union members can’t even afford to live. somebody has to pay for their dues and it comes from the cost of everything we buy. Lets go on strike so we can demand even more money……..so I can keep up with the cost of living. Said no union member ever. Hah.
I would add there should be no lobbying or political contributions allowed by any public employee unions, such as the NEA. They should be bargaining entities only on behalf of their members and not allowed to ‘buy’ elected officials which is exactly what they are doing. It may be legal but it isn’t right or ethical. Essentially tax payers are indirectly funding this – the lobbying and contributions – which then go to enrich the campaigns and coffers of candidates and elected officials we may not want to support, who then often make irresponsible fiscal decisions with bills that then cost us, the taxpayers, more money. It is nuts.
Where’s Senator Mike Cronk in the photo? He’s a former teacher. He voted to raise the education budget.
A group picture of monkeys, all trained to coalesce around their union masters. Pathetic!
I thought it was hard-left Democrats in that photo. But wait. There he is: Rep Chuck Kopp. WTF?
How can a these people have clue what an economy is and how things work in the real world if they never signed a contract or paycheck 🤔 all they know is how do you spend the taxpayers money!!!
You think that’s bad remember, who counts the votes most of the time their ex government employees, teachers, librarians and other people who never signed a paycheck other than to cash it for them selves🤔🕵🏻♂️🤷🏼
I say they need to fire these people that are owned by the unions and government employees⏳✅
Yup.
Now I understand why the Alaska state government is so bad.
Teachers!
That have failed teaching our students the basics of math, reading, writing, science, and history.
The MAJORITY of Alaska students perform below grade level for reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Why should we expect their ability to go earn be any different than overwhelming mediocrity and FAILURE.
The 20%-35% that are linked to the education industrial complex (EIC) should recuse themselves from voting on education related bills.
Absolutely kenai I agree
Good to know the list of communists in the legislature. Am sure there are “some” nice NEA folks, but the majority are self-serving out for their own interests.
I say let them have the whole damn place, let them run the show and spend ALL THE $$$.
The sooner the end comes the better off the good people will be.
There are many of us that survived before these bast__ds came around and we can survive well into the future without them.
Thank you Suzanne for shedding light on something I had wondered about and even speculated upon recently – how many of these legislators have any history in the private sector. It is worse than I imagined. Two statements jumped out at me from your article –
‘The majority of Alaska lawmakers do not come from the private sector; they’ve never signed the front of a paycheck, only the back.’
‘These legislators show little concern for building the private sector economy and growing a stable job market in Alaska, even as Alaska faces a projected $400–500 million deficit for FY26.’
From my perspective too many legislators are completely unqualified for their legislative positions. Just from their actions they certainly do not appear to understand basic economics nor where money comes from, or the work and responsibility of running a private sector business. This knowledge should be essential to hold office. I would say our state is in crisis with this lack of fiscal common sense and understanding. Most of us in the private sector though do not retire as early as the public sector and often have, or work for, businesses that don’t allow for the months of legislative session in Juneau. This may account for the lack of representation with more private sector background.
I’ll answer the question in the headline – “Why is that?”:
it is because dumb Alaska voters consistently elect idiots to the legislature. It always has been that way and always will be that way. Alaska voters get their ideas from Anchorage voters, who are the dumbest ever.
John Hancock, your frustration’s loud and clear, but the problem is all we know about elections is what we’re told by unelected officials, some of whom work for the very officeholders running for re-election.
.
We have no way of verifying accuracy of election outcomes or voter turnout numbers.
How many come from blue states? This is how you lose control of your state.
They should be paid comparable to Student Test Scores, Second Lowest In The Nation.
Legislators that have a vested interest in any legislation should recuse themselves from voting for or against said legislation.
Governor Dunlevey offered a far better bill that included reforms that was not even considered by the legislature. In addition, the governor is a retired teacher, administrator, school board member and president and also ran his own consulting business. So he knows more about what is needed than those tied to the NEA. But of course, the legislature would not listen to him. How bitter the pill for someone eminently qualified to have straightened out the education system in his two terms only to run in to an NEA voting block that would not listen. This is the real tragedy of the last 6 years.
There are, obviously, significant systemic problems with the delivery of public education in Alaska.
Governor Dunleavy correctly identified some of these problems and sought to address them.
Having noted the problems and called for reform, the Z governor then remained unengaged in actually solving the problem. Essentially, Mike Dunleavy was absent during this last legislative session.
Context matters a great in politics and Governor Dunleavy’s unwillingness to get engaged in the sometimes messy business of legislative reform was a huge missed opportunity.
Maybe it was because he thought he was going to move on to Dee Cee. Perhaps because he doesn’t like to wrestle with the legislative branch of government.
Who really knows?
What’s increasingly obvious is that our Governor is just running out the string and content to act like the lame duck he is.
Oh well, it happens ……….
Joe, I understand your criticism of the Guv, however, given the depth and width of the fouled institution called Public Education, it occurs to me that the individual has really only one option, and that is to take your children and FLEE!
This thing IS do polluted and bassackwards that it is beyond fixing. Remove your kids and grandkids, let the system completely crumble as it runs out of students, or in BSA terms, monetary units…
Well said Robert A Schenker. However, for most parents, removing their children from public school is an expense they either cannot afford or are unwilling to pay for. Alaska is ranked number 48 out of 50 states in academic achievment; our entire public education bureaucracy is a complete failure. They are effectively cultivating new generations of addicts and homelessness. It is child abuse on a massive scale; a crime against humanity. Everyone involved or enabling it is a disgrace.
Truly a failed State. It will not get better without major changes to the legislature.
Looks like a stacked deck……..”Stacked deck” is an idiom that means to arrange something unfairly in one’s favor or against someone else
Food for thought every tax that is paid creates another government job, therefore unbalancing our republic🕵🏻♂️⏳☝️
When you add in the members of the Legislature that have spouses who are teachers, the number is even higher! Eventually, this public education voting bloc will gobble up the earnings and the principal of the PFD. Don’t vote for anyone who has any ties to the public education political machine if you value your PFD & don’t want an income tax to fund this failed and bloated bureaucracy!
The plan is to sink the State into an abyss of debt it can never get out of… Then sell everything off that can be sold, kinda like what just happened in Ukraine and other places around the world… These Color Groups are just the shock troops… The ones in the trenches doing the dirty work… They will gleefully sign into law million dollar a year benefit packages with no thought whatsoever as to where the revenue will come from… That’s just someone else’s problem but in the end they will be left with nothing either… It’s all going to get looted again on another level that they aren’t even close to being on… Trust the plan… QQQ
And… add into the equation that nearly 100% of the voters attended a dumbed down NEA controlled publick skrool.
God help us!
Robert, its not just “dumbed down.” There is heavy darkness and communist brainwashing occurring.
Reading this article gives this reader two points. The first- While the comments pointedly reflect correct concerns and observations, the reaction from this writer, is “And will I see your petition to run for office?”
the response will be crickets. No objection, having served on our planning commission, assembly, and school board (Recall with four other members for our efforts to address the horrid academic status),not having the gumption is a understood.
Second, Kiss the remaining PFD goodby next legislative session. It is easy pickings with the results of this current past session to recognize the one remaining fiscal segment that will be consumed as there is no other fiscal funds that are going to materialize in the interim.
Enjoy, and Cheers.
A.Johnson-Ketchikan
Well that explains why the legislature acts more like a bunch of high-scoolers in a clique or a college frat house, instead of a place of prestige, honor, and decorum. It sounds like most of them never left high-school/college behavior behind and matured into responsible adults. Alaska voters… “Play stupid games… win stupid prizes…” SMH…
Oops,not named, minority “Leader”, Mia Costello, A former teacher and Murkowski crony
Time to get serious about who we vote for.
And this is why we are screwed.
Early statehood legislatures were dominated by commercial fishing and hunting industries. Pipeline construction brought a quick infusion of corrupt labor unions. Later came the west coast lawyers. Then the environmental kooks and teachers got significant infiltration. That cabal still has control. The Alaska media is always involved, and individual psychos are always present. Don’t forget foreign (including Lower 48) commercial entities poisoning the capitol with their lobbyists and annual summer invasions. It’s always somebody. Getting rid of one cabal allows another to take up the vacuum. The education industry wouldn’t be so bad if they’d actually produce something beyond stupid kids. But they don’t.
Why does the AK Legislature have a large NEA voting bloc? Because they and their constituents vote together. They don’t spend their time arguing and fighting over minutiae in a bill or whether a candidate looked sideways at voter, or if they were offended 15 years ago. They want to win. They want the control. There’s a lesson there. Republicans are willing to accept defeat to prevent anything other than their perfect candidate or bill to win. Suck it, Alaska Rs. Enjoy your continuing slide into irrelevancy and the total blue dominance of a once free state.
The legislature probably reflects Alaska residency as a whole, in that Alaska has a higher percentage of public sector employment than most states. From time to time, it has had the highest.
HB57 was never really about “cell phones” in the schools. It was always the backup, insurance plan, to raise the BSA.
Well done “conservatives”.
OK, I will say it again. The Alaska Constitution forbids Sectarian Influances in our public educational institutions. This must be addressed.
Teaching degrees are the easiest to get in college. And today you have teachers who can’t tell the difference between male and female and use fuzzy math to get to an answer that may or not be true. History has become revisionist history. The list goes on and on and on.
Either some of the dumbest of the dumb are teachers in your schools and legislator… OR..they are there by design and by hook and crook to undermine this Republic. When the public can’t tell the difference between the D’s and the R’s, we’ve got a problem Houston.
Loki Tobin told me that she had read studies that prove throwing more money into education improves education. I told her the facts prove her wrong.
Ha ha Dan. Your right. Keep throwing money at the problem until it goes away. The money that is. Ha ha