The Permanent School Fund is a trust — land granted at statehood, held so that its earnings, not its corpus, support each generation of schoolchildren in turn. The old 'perpetual and inviolate' rule is a fence around the principal; this amendment trades that fence for a 'purchasing power' standard and a fixed annual draw. There is a real stewardship case on both sides. Drawing 4.5% of a three-year average can send schools steadier money and beat the slow erosion of inflation; but it can also spend down a trust faster than it grows in a weak market, quietly shifting wealth from children's children to the present budget. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children — so the citizen should ask whether the new draw is genuinely sustainable or just a more comfortable way to dip into the corpus.
"A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just."
— Proverbs 13:22 (KJV)