For immediate release
June 13, 2025
Fairbanks, Alaska—The Fairbanks Native Association (FNA), a nonprofit with education as one of its core missions since 1963, is deeply disappointed by Governor Dunleavy’s veto of education funding announcement yesterday.
FNA operates programs such as Head Start, Early Head Start, JOM and Tribal Home Visiting. We know firsthand the critical role these services play in laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning. Our mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals and families by promoting justice, healing, and wellness in our community. Education and educational support are directly related to quality of life.
Education is not optional—it is essential to the future of our children and our communities, and it must be protected.
In today’s unstable fiscal environment—further complicated by uncertainty at the federal level—service providers like FNA, along with local entities such as the Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board, have been forced to make difficult contingency plans to preserve essential services.
But there is a breaking point, and the continued erosion of the base student allocation has exceeded it. It now threatens more school closures, fewer services, and a decline in educational quality across Alaska.
The State of Alaska must rise to this moment. The value of a child’s education should never be determined by the price of oil fluctuating. Nor should funding reductions be made without meaningful dialogue and partnership with those who provide these vital services.
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