Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Aug. 13 that he planned to fully restore several million dollars in early education state funds when he signed the Legislature’s operating budget bill later in the week.
The announcement was made at the RurAL CAP child development center in Anchorage.
The restored funding, all of which was earlier subjected to line-item vetoes, includes $6.8 million in Head Start grants, $1.2 million in Early Education grants, $474,000 to Parents as Teachers grants and $320,000 in Best Beginning grants.
Head Start offers free and comprehensive early childhood programs in Alaska. These funds will prevent the loss of 540 spots for students, plus the loss of 150 jobs statewide. The state funds are a match for federal funding, which last year totaled $46 million.
The Early Education grants fund several preschool programs in various districts. Parents as Teachers grants are in addition to $2 million enacted in fiscal year 2020 budget for pre-kindergarten grants, as well as the $4.2 million in unspent grants carried forward from fiscal year 2019.
Funding for Best Beginnings, a public-private partnership, are used to mobilize people and resources to ensure all Alaska children begin school ready to learn.
The restored funds are retroactive to July 1.
The announcement restoring early education funds comes on the heels of Dunleavy’s announcement on Aug. 12 to resume cash distributions under the Alaska Senior Benefits Payment Program to some 13,522 residents. The Dunleavy administration still plans big increases to the cost of residency at the Alaska Pioneer Homes.
The line item cuts made by the governor to education programs from preschool to the university level prompted an outcry across the state from families that would be impacted, and those vetoes, along with others have resulted in a Recall Dunleavy effort that has already collected thousands of signatures.
