By admin 
Six candidates for Alaska governor from across the political spectrum appeared side-by-side in a room full of superintendents and school officials in Juneau and promised that boosting education funding would be a priority of their administration, if elected.
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Six candidates participated in the debate, out of 17 running for governor this year. Randy Hoffbeck, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor who stood in for his running mate, Bill Walker. They discussed their plans for education in a two-hour event hosted by the Alaska Superintendents’ Association on July 30.
The gubernatorial candidates included Republican Click Bishop, Democrat Tom Begich, Republican Matt Heilala, Republican Lesil Maguire, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, and Independent Hoffbeck.
The panel was moderated by Randy Trani, superintendent of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, with questions organized by the board of the Alaska Superintendents Association. A group of roughly 50 superintendents and school administrators from across Alaska attended as part of the association’s summer conference event in Juneau.
All six candidates agreed Alaska education has been underfunded by the Dunleavy administration, with several candidates characterizing public education as “in crisis.”
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A record 12 schools were closed this year, amid millions in budget shortfalls, and others have cut teachers, programs and extracurricular activities. Districts reported funding has not kept pace with skyrocketing operating costs, amid declining enrollment as families leave the state or move to homeschool programs.
Trani said afterward he found all the candidates “super impressive,” particularly their ideas for funding education.
“They understand that there’s a fiscal reality problem in the state and it has to be addressed,” he said. “They all have different ideas of how they’re going to do it, but at least they’re leading with it as a top priority.”
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