Students outside of Kayhi protesting Governor Dunleavy’s veto of SB140. (Darrell/KRBD)

Students at Ketchikan High School took part in a statewide walkout, protesting Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of Senate Bill 140, a bipartisan state education measure that would have significantly raised state education funding for the first time in nearly a decade. 

More than 130 students circled the school and stood on the street holding signs urging the Governor to raise the base student allocation.

Following student walkouts like this one across the state on April 4, Governor Dunleavy issued a statement saying he supports a BSA increase, as well as students exercising their First Amendment rights, but “money alone won’t improve Alaska’s educational outcomes.” 

Let’s hear directly from the students:

Voices featured:

  • Hope Call
  • Fawn Breese
  • Catriona McCord
  • Isadora Oliver

Kayhi students walked out of class at 11 a.m. to symbolize the one vote by which the legislature failed to override the governor’s veto. The protest lasted 40 minutes to represent the 40 votes that were needed for the override. (Darrell/KRBD)

The protest outside of Kayhi was entirely student lead and organized. (Darrell/KRBD)

Kayhi student Gavin Hiller holds a sign reading “#RED FOR ED RAISE THE BSA.” “Red for Ed” is a reference to the national movement that uses the color red in support of public school teachers. (Darrell/KRBD)