Alaskans don't scare easy and that is why we don't think a nickle cut from each dollar is going to have the dramatic effect being suggested here.
Again, if Alaskans want a 2008-9 level of funding in 2018, then it is only fair to discuss this before we discuss ways to fund it. 
With respect to an income tax, economic teachers years ago taught that a sales tax is regressive. We believed this for years but an in depth analysis shows this to not always be  true. 
Most states have a sales tax and many have an income tax too. What is so different about Alaska, that we just can't fathom an sales tax? Heck, we got them all over the state, just not Anchorage.
2nd graders are going to be just fine, it's the education folks yelling the sky is falling is the problem. 
We just need to sit down together and discuss the size and scope of government and how to pay for it. The house budget is dead because it doesn't represent the viewpoint of all Alaskans.