Opinion: Alaska can't afford to spend this little money on state services.

Has been updated: 18 few minutes ago release date: 18 few minutes ago

Late last spring, I drove up the Alaska Highway and was struck by the number of U-Haul trucks heading south. I waved and cheered them on, saying, “Good for you.” It was a smug spirit that said, “After all, this wasn't really home.'' Of course, this was just a shallow reaction, but after 60 years in this state he might be an emotionally safe way to hide the truth. There are good reasons to leave this wonderful state, and we really need those energetic dreamers. Keeping our economy and spirits strong.

ADN recently published an op-ed explaining that the state's fiscal outlook is in relatively safe territory (“Alaska is making progress toward correcting its fiscal situation,” Jan. 20). After years of cuts, we have finally arrived at an affordable budget in the $4.5 billion to $5 billion range. Most of that funding comes from the Permanent Fund, not oil revenues, which have fallen to 16% of budget needs over the decades. At first, there was a sense of relief in this work, but then reality set in.

Our schools, and just about every other state institution, are in dire straits, not even looking at the massive amount of deferred maintenance that piles up every year. I spent 25 years at these schools, and until recently they were among the best in the world. Now they are threatened by make-believe culture wars and short-sighted thinking by politicians seeking easy answers to very complex problems.

House Republicans' emphasis on increasing funding for homeschooling and distance schools reduces funding for institutional schools, completely missing the most important lesson learned from the pandemic: Children They especially desire to be around competent, well-trained professionals in a structured environment. And Gov. Mike Dunleavy's support for charter schools is another hot option that could be an insidious way to dismantle public schools and redirect public funds to religious schools. Public funding for religious schools was prohibited by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Thomas Jefferson believed that government support of religion violated freedom of conscience. We were the first country in the world to recognize freedom of all religions, or freedom of all religions. The concept of public schools was revolutionary, a model for the world, and it remains today. Our culture needs common threads, places where we can share ideas, debate, and learn to compromise with people from all walks of life. If we give up on that, we will lose the most precious thing in this country.

To that end, the long-term goal of a $5 billion budget, funded by a 5 percent draw from the Endowment Fund, is simply not achievable. This idea completely ignores our obligations to the infrastructure, including our advanced education system, that is crumbling around us. Our state's Republican majority must fully fund our schools this year with healthy increases to the BSA. Anything less than that is irresponsible.

It's a difficult reality to face, but Governor Jay Hammond was right when he regretted canceling the state's tax system in the 1980s. We have to accept the idea that we need to fully fund the system. Otherwise, we will continue to see U-Hails filled with young workers retiring in the spring, perhaps including our children. The last people left will be people like me who have no concept of “home.'' They won't have that smug attitude, and no one will wave goodbye to them.

bob barnwell I grew up in Anchorage. He taught for his 25 years in Unalaska and Seward, and in Venezuela and Myanmar for an additional 5 years. He is retired and lives in Seward.

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