Free lunches and free handgun trainings among legislators' school proposals

Hellllo, Alaska! Long time no newsletter!

In this edition: We’re less than a week from the start of the 2025 legislative session, which will be the first time in recent memory that far-right Republicans will control neither chamber. Alaska’s election of bipartisan coalitions filled with Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans present a fresh opportunity for the state to advance solutions on some of the state’s most pressing needs. In this edition, let’s look at two pre-filed bills and what they show us about what to expect.

Current mood: 🤓

Programming note: Apologies for the longer-than-expected break! After writing solo largely nonstop since June 2017, I really needed to take some time away from things and recharge before the new session. Thank you to everyone who has been so gosh darn understanding and supportive. As a thank-you, I’ve gone ahead and comped all paying members two weeks and set up a two-week trial for those looking to get in on the session wonkery. Thanks a million, Matt.

Free lunches and free handgun training

For me, one of the lasting moments of the 2024 legislative session was the whole day and change of the final run of the session that House Republicans dedicated to their odious bill to restrict how trans kids are allowed to play sports. It was never going to go anywhere in the Senate—even if the Senate majority was on board with singling out trans kids over an imagined problem, there wasn’t time left on the clock to get it through the process—but the House GOP seemed deadset on making a statement.

Keep in mind, too, that the number of trans kids participating in Alaska sports is few to none. While issues like this are best left to the sports organizations, the bill would have created a process where parents could trigger gender investigations with no sideboards or protections for the accused, who, if we are forgetting, are children (and has been the case in several other states, typically are cis kids who don’t conform to certain gender expressions).

In the grand scheme of public education in Alaska, the hours the House Republicans dedicated to the anti-trans bill did nothing to improve educational outcomes for Alaskan students or expand opportunities for girls’ sports. All it did was single out students who probably already felt out of place and under attack by adults.

It was pure grandstanding.

As we look ahead to this year, the nearly dozen school-related bills released in the first pre-file drop last Friday provide a very on-the-nose illustration of the differences between far-right Republicans and everyone else when it comes to public schools.

The bills pre-filed by members of the bipartisan coalitions—Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans—range from Fairbanks Democratic Rep. Maxine Dibert’s bill making breakfast and lunch in public schools free to bills pushing for courses on civics, financial literacy and the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The slate includes other priorities, such as a ban on non-emergency use of cell phones, CPR training and teacher pensions. All things focused on improving student outcomes.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the return of far-right Palmer Republican Sen. Shelley Hughes’ legislation that would force schools to allow employees and volunteers to carry handguns on school grounds. And at a time when school resources are stretched thin and districts are under constant pressure to cut and consolidate, the legislation would force districts to foot the bill for concealed handgun training.

Hughes, a longtime purveyor of trans panic in the Legislature, proposed the bill last session, arguing that it was a sensible way to prevent gun violence in schools and going as far as to suggest that legislators would regret it if they don’t arm teachers and volunteers and there was a shooting. Unsurprisingly, it faced considerable pushback from parents, teachers and doctors, like Anchorage trauma surgeon Dr. Charles Ross Baldwin, who warned that the bill was oblivious to the real dangers created by putting a handgun in the classroom.

“As a trauma surgeon, I see a large number of self-inflicted and accidental gun-related injuries,” Baldwin wrote to the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. “While there are a lot of emotions around protecting children, the reality of putting guns in schools, in the hands of inadequately trained civilians, would likely increase risk of harm to students more than it would help prevent violence.”

Now compare that to Rep. Dibert’s new universal free meals bill.

As a longtime teacher, Dibert said some people might not understand how critical school meals can be for students — how it can be the only consistent and healthy meal some kids get — recalling how some of her students often were the hungriest after the weekend. She said it’s harder for kids to learn when they are hungry. Early research on universal free meals has found that more kids are being fed at schools, and there could be improvements in student health and attendance along with drops in suspensions. It also suggests it saves families about $11 per student per month.

“We are so concerned about outcomes, a kid’s performance, then people should be for this bill, this legislation,” she said. “If we want good outcomes, we need to feed our kids.”

The existing free and reduced meals system is connected to a family’s eligibility for food stamps, and Alaska’s program has infamously faced massive delays in approving applications and delivering benefits. Legislators approved changes to the program last year that make it harder for families to be bumped out of eligibility by small pay raises or gifts, but Dibert said that it still frequently leaves teachers picking up the slack. She said she has paid for meals out of her account to ensure kids are fed.

She recalled that when meals were made universally free through federal funding, there was a noticeable shift for students and teachers.

“It was just so stress-free, and all kids were happy,” Dibert recalled about teaching during the COVID era when meals were free, and teachers and administrators didn’t have to worry about whether students would be fed. “And I remember when it ended, it returned to being very stressful again. You know, parents had to figure out how to pay their lunches again, and kids couldn't line up and enjoy just going down to get fed.”

Still, despite the bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate, there is the matter of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto pen. Last year, he vetoed a permanent increase to school funding because legislators refused to sign off on provisions that would make it easier for selective public charter schools to be set up. So far, he’s seemed open to additional funding of about $200 million, but he hasn’t said what strings would be attached to it.

That looms over the work for Dibert but won’t stop her from pushing for what she believes can make a meaningful difference to many young Alaskans.

“I can’t speak for the governor, but my colleagues and I committed to supporting our schools. We believe in education, and it’s one of the reasons we have the bipartisan coalitions,” she said. “I think all of our constituents in our coalition want great neighborhood schools more than anything else.”

Stay tuned.

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