Saturday, March 21 outside the Loussac Library 9:30am

Dress Warm! Bring Signs! Tell Your Legislators How You Feel!

Your governor has rejected:

money for weatherization, energy efficiency grants, immunizations, air quality grants, emergency food assistance, homeless grants, senior meals, child care development grants, nutrition programs, homeless grants, arts, unemployment services, air quality, justice assistance grants and other programs that help Alaskans who want to be able to weather these difficult economic times.

Here’s what prominent Alaskans had to say about Palin’s decision to reject these funds:

Rep. Les Gara (D)

“40% of our children aren’t graduating from high school. When the President of the United States offers to help you hire teachers, and to help your kids, you say “thank you”. If it were me, I wouldn’t have looked for a way to poke a stick in his eye.”

Senator Mark Begich (D)

“I trust the legislature will do the right thing and take Alaska’s share of the money for education in the economic recovery package,” the Alaska Democrat said in a written statement. “We owe it to our children to give them the most opportunities possible, and this is money fairly allocated to Alaska in this stimulus package.”

Carol Comeau, Superintendant of Schools

“We’re shocked and very disappointed that the governor said she would reject the education stimulus money for Title I and IDEA programs. We believe that we can make very good use of the funds, not only in job preservation but also in adding new positions to ultimately use these funds to increase student achievement for our neediest children.

“Earlier this week, I met with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to discuss various ways to use the funding to advance education among students, as the secretary and the president intended.

“One of the opportunities the Anchorage School Board, my administration and I have discussed is to add more preschool programs in Title I schools. Many of the children in neighborhoods served by these schools are not prepared to enter kindergarten. Title I schools have a large number of students who qualify for free and reduced price lunch, have high mobility rates, and are English language learners. Additional programs and support at these schools have proven to make a difference for our students in helping them be ready to enter kindergarten. Stimulus funds could also be used to extend learning time for students who need additional academic assistance.

“Additional stimulus funds designated for IDEA and special education give us a rare opportunity to use an increased amount of money for professional development to assist our classroom educators to better work with students with disabilities. It would also allow us to increase opportunities to use best practices within our Special Education department.

“If we were to implement additional programs with the stimulus funds offered by President Obama, and the funds were to diminish a few years from now, we would be prepared to redistribute General Fund money or other federal funds to keep programs that have proven to be effective.

“ASD would absolutely be transparent and accountable for federal school stimulus funds. We intend to actively engage the public to develop a plan to best use those funds.

“We urge the legislature to engage both the district and the community in a dialogue regarding these stimulus funds very quickly, as the decision on whether to accept the funds is two weeks away, April 3. We hope the legislature is willing to recognize the importance of this money and will take swift action.”

Barb Angaiak, President of the National Education Association of Alaska (NEA-Alaska)

Palin’s decision to reject more than $160 million of federal stimulus funds for Alaska education is “logic-defying, dumb-founding, short-sighted – and a slap in the face to parents, children and educators across Alaska.”

“Governor Palin has deliberately chosen to ignore the education needs of tens of thousands of children across Alaska. Her attempt to score short term gains will have long-term, dire consequences for our students and educators,” Angaiak said. ”Her message to our children is callously blunt: ‘In the interests of my political agenda, you’re on your own.’”

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell came to a news conference called by acting Anchorage Mayor Matt Claman and Anchorage School District superintendent Carol Comeau and said the governor did not “reject” the money. Rather, she “did not accept” it because she first wants public discussion on how to best use it, he said. He said she hasn't yet decided yet whether taking the money would be good for Alaska. A statement from the governor's office had the same message: “Governor Sarah Palin today reaffirmed her desire to generate public discussion and to work with legislators on identifying any additional spending from the federal stimulus package.”

Parnell said the governor wants to know what the recipients plan on doing with the money.

On Thursday, though, a Palin administration press release had a different tone. It said, “Governor Palin is accepting just 55 percent of the available stimulus funds, all for capital projects.”

Further, it quoted Palin: “The law requires me to certify that the requests I forward to legislative approval will meet the requirements of the (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) to create jobs and promote economic growth. … Legitimately, I can only certify capital projects that are job ready.”

In today's statement though, Palin is quoted saying: “I have to certify every dollar we apply for will legitimately create new jobs and stimulate the economy. I can't certify that fact until the Legislature is comfortable with what the education's fiscal landscape will look like if we apply for the funds.”

Parnell spoke up after Claman and Comeau called a news conference in the morning criticizing Palin's decision. Claman and Comeau want state legislators to override the governor's decision to not accept about 30 percent of the $930 million for which the state is eligible over the next two years.

“We want the Legislature to act quickly,” Claman said, “and take the stimulus dollars the governor is rejecting and accept those for Alaska.”

About $172 million of the turned-down funds are for education. About $26 million was for Anchorage schools. Half was specifically for special-needs kids, the other half for schools in the poorest neighborhoods.

Claman said he couldn't say how much of the $288 million is specifically slated for Anchorage but estimated about half.

“To keep Alaska moving forward, we need to accept this stimulus money,” he said.

Asked if Palin's decision was politically motivated, Parnell said: “I absolutely reject that. I was in hours of discussion with the governor. … There were no political campaign or candidate type issues that arose. This is pure policy.”

POLITICALLY MOTIVATED- – - – THAT'S THE REAL DEAL!!!

An unlikely figure has come to the defense of embattled Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: Sen. John McCain.

Geithner “should be given a chance to succeed,” McCain said on Friday, according to the Financial Times, which notes that the former presidential candidate was one of the few Republican senators to support Geithner's nomination, and likely the first to “speak up in Mr Geithner's defence amid growing calls for his resignation.”