NOTN- Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Monday released the full policy agenda for a special session of the Alaska Legislature, scheduled to begin Saturday, Aug. 2. The session, first announced earlier this month, will focus on a sweeping package of education reforms the Governor says are aimed at improving student outcomes and securing long-term funding for public schools.

“This is an opportunity to address Alaska’s performance issues and funding issues in K-12 education well into the future.” Dunleavy said in the press release. “By addressing this now, school districts, students, parents, teachers, and policymakers will have certainty and will not have to debate this issue during the regular session that begins in January,”

The Governor’s office outlined their key priorities for the session, those include

• Executive order creating a Department of Agriculture
• Tribal Compacting between the state Department of education and select tribes
• Expansion of corporate tax credit program for education.
• Authorize the Department of Education as a charter school authorizer in addition to local districts
• Open enrollment allowing public school students to enroll in any public school that has room including outside of a student’s resident district.
• Grants for reading improvement and for a new after school reading tutoring program
• Recruitment retention payments to classroom teachers to reduce turnover
•  Long-term certainty in funding for K-12 schools if agreement is reached on policy.

Education Commissioner Dr. Deena Bishop, a former teacher and superintendent, said the proposals are evidence-based and modeled after successful policies in other states.

Bill introductions are scheduled for the session’s opening day, with hearings requested to begin Sunday, Aug. 3.

However many lawmakers plan to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s decision to veto millions of dollars in public school funding from this year’s state operating budget.

according to the Alaska Beacon, It takes 45 votes to override an Alaska governor’s budget veto, and of the 46 legislators who voted this spring to override the governor’s veto of the education funding formula, all but a handful have committed to supporting a budget veto override as well.

That formula is subject to the state’s annual budget process, and Dunleavy chose to only partially fund it, causing a wave of cuts to services at public schools across the state. Dunleavy had said he would not agree to the full funding increase without the Legislature adopting other policies he’s proposed.