Stories like this highlight the reason why we need to come together as Alaskans to talk about sustainability in our state and local budgets moving into the future. Government-paid retreats in Seattle? No-bid contracts awarded out to politically-connected families? 

Reasonable cuts can be made to education without penalizing teachers and students. Start by looking at construction and administrative costs. 

And do we all want to start paying an income or sales tax so the state can buy new homes and facilities for villages at risk of flooding across the state? It's not sustainable. Maybe you focus spending on hub communities like Bethel, Kotzebue, and Barrow instead of each individual village?

We may not be able to cut our way out of our deficit, but we certainly cannot tax our way to prosperity either.