In 2015, a group of philosophers had a conversation on Australian radio that asked whether having a loving family gives children an “unfair advantage.” While that might sound like an absurd question to most Alaskans, it actually touches on a real truth: strong families matter. Kids who are raised in stable, loving homes do better in life. They learn faster, work harder, and stay out of trouble. That is no accident; it is the natural result of responsible committed parents doing the hard work of raising their children right.
The radio philosophers, Adam Swift and Harry Brighouse, pointed out that some advantages, like reading bedtime stories to your kids, are perfectly justified. Others, like using wealth to buy exclusive private schooling, they viewed with more skepticism, the same skepticism that our Alaska Foundation formula uses to help level the playing field. Their bottom line was simple: family matters, and it creates differences that society cannot, and should not, try to erase. I believe this to be true no matter where in Alaska you live or what school you go to. Family involvement will always produce a better education.
This is where Alaska’s education debate comes in. The National Education Association (NEA), including NEA-Alaska, aided and abetted by some school districts and school boards (who see children as a commodity to fund their education-industrial complex), have spent years fighting against homeschooling, correspondence programs, and charter schools. They claim to be protecting fairness, but the truth is, they are clinging to an outdated model of education that values centralized control over what really works for kids and families. The thing that makes me angry is that they are leveling the playing field by decreasing opportunities for Alaskan children to excel.
Samuel L. Blumenfeld called it out decades ago in his book N.E.A.: Trojan Horse in American Education. He warned that the NEA was not really about children or education; it was about power. Their model, imported from 19th-century Prussia, was never designed to promote creativity or opportunity. It was designed to produce obedient workers for an industrial society, not critical thinkers or independent well-adjusted citizens. Today, in Alaska, we see the results of that Prussian model: a system that fights innovation, opposes parental choice, and demands ever more money with little improvement in results. By excluding family from the equation, we have set our children up for failure in life. And in doing so we are putting the future of Alaska at risk.
Every time a new charter school opens, or a family chooses to homeschool, the NEA sees a threat to their monopoly, and they fight back, not for the good of kids, but to preserve their own influence.
Those who are demanding homeschooling, charter schools, and more parental choice, stand in direct opposition to this old, outdated Prussian model. They recognize what Swift and Brighouse knew: that strong families are the foundation of success for our children. When parents are trusted to shape their child’s education, whether by reading to them, teaching them history through Alaskan culture, or choosing a school that fits their needs, children thrive. Bottom line is that parents know best. The choices for our children should not belong to the government, to the state, or to the school district and schools.
NEA-Alaska tries to argue that educational choice creates unfairness. Our foundation formula even reflects that. They claim that only traditional neighborhood schools can guarantee equality because they offer certified teachers, standardized curriculums, and socialization. But that argument falls apart when you look at the reality. In traditional public schools, kids from wealthier families already have the upper hand; they can afford tutors, extracurriculars, and access to the best neighborhoods. Poorer families are trapped in failing systems, and the NEA’s solution is to double down on the very structure that leaves those children behind.
The irony should be obvious to those looking: the NEA claims to fight inequality, yet its policies entrench it. They deny rural families, single parents, and working-class Alaskans the ability to do what wealthier families do every day, which is customize their children’s education to meet their needs.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Homeschooling and charter schools are not the problem; they are the solution. They are the tools that allow committed parents to level the playing field. They offer flexibility, innovation, and the personal investment in education that no centralized system can replicate. In a state as vast and diverse as Alaska, one-size-fits-all education simply does not work.
Blumenfeld was right: the NEA’s grip on education is about maintaining control, not improving outcomes. Every time a new charter school opens, or a family chooses to homeschool, the NEA sees a threat to their monopoly, and they fight back, not for the good of kids, but to preserve their own influence.
It is time to break free from that outdated model. If we truly care about fairness, and about giving every child the chance to succeed, we must trust families. We must support educational choice, not fight it. That means embracing homeschooling, expanding charter schools, and encouraging innovation across the board.
Strong families will always give kids an advantage. That is not something to fear or to tear down; it is something to celebrate and to support. By empowering parents and honoring the unique needs of every child, Alaska can build an education system that lifts everyone up, not just those born into advantage.
The views expressed here are those of the author.
13 Comments
Time to flush the NEA in the toilet! We live in the United States, not Russia. We have paid our taxes and live for the freedom we choose. All of it. NEA can be dissolved and it should be.
I see the signs that read “Kids, not Cuts” and have to wonder. Are those signs held by transphobes?
I would suggest that the sign demands that the tax payer dollars be not cut… Guess who instructed the verbiage on the signs.
I am not completely sure of the date, but I believe it was in June of 2020 the the national NEA voted (and passed) a resolution to not longer pursue academics, and to focus the whole of their attention on “social justice”. I think this says something very dangerous about the largest teachers union in the country. Another concern in my book, when we start looking at power systems are the superintendent and school board associations that are teaching “governance” to elected community members serving on these boards, vs representation and the right of local control. These organizations have a lot of clout and legistative pull. Not sure how to rout them or oust them, but it should be looked into.
Everyone, except for LIBERALS know that NEA is not about EDUCATION, they’re about POWER and their sole purpose as an organization is to maintain their CONTROL over our CHILDREN.
NEA is about the power to EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN! Alaska educators are
Skilled, brilliant and very energetic. Go sit in on a class and judge for yourself . Charter schools often have brilliant energetic and committed educators as well. Homeschool? Two subsets: the intelligent, educated, compassionate and time-rich parents and the others are go-along parents happy to plug their child into a worksheet or screen.
We would all do well to support and enhance the public school system. They do not select which type of student is in the pipeline; they deal with every attribute of parent intelligence and commitment.
They are indeed about power but also always about more money and more benefits. The NEA and the Democrat Party continually feed off of each other. As the Mafia used to put it: “One hand washes the other”.
Remember these names. Louise Stutes and Chuck Kopp and Senators Bert Stedman, Gary
Stevens, Jesse Bjorkman, Cathy Giessel, and Kelly Merrick. We need to VOTE these people out.
I still can’t fathom how Cathy Giezzel or Kelly Merrick, got voted back in.
Plus we need to kick out everyone else that voted against a full PFD.
Remember it’s the law to a full PFD. It’s ALL Alaska residences money, Not the government.
What about the families that don’t care? That excuse every absence (since AK has no attendance policy) , that make every excuse, that definitely don’t want to homeschool and only care about bussing to an all day childcare aka school? These students are truly at a disadvantage and public school their only option. Teachers are not all bad, in fact, many do not want to be part of the NEA but have no collective voice outside of it. How do we also provide the same level of education as our charter schools without adequate funding and resources? Is the system broken? Yes. I’m unsure the total solution but I don’t want the kids that in truth make up a large part of our student population who fit into the categories I described to be left behind.
McCabe RHINO RASH!
In the frosty old land of Alaska’s great sprawl,
Lived Dave Maxwell, the angriest man of them all!
Old as the glaciers, with a scowl fierce and wide,
He’d snarl at the moose even the stars in the sky.
With a whistle he blew, like a blizzard’s cold blast,
He raged at the world for the wrongs of his past.
“Governor Dunleavy!” he’d bellow and roar,
“You’re the cause of my firing, my grief, and much more!”
His beard was all tangled, his temper a flame,
He cursed every soul he could think of to blame.
The miners, the fishers, the sled dogs, the mayor,
Dave’s anger burned hotter than Anchorage air!
“Dunleavy’s a villain!” he’d growl through the snow,
“He’s ruined my life, and I’ll make sure folks know!”
He’d stomp through the tundra, his boots kicking ice,
Blaming teachers and trappers and ravens, not at all nice.
But the folks of Alaska, from Nome to the sea,
Just shrugged at old Dave and his grumpy decree.
“He’s old, he’s big mad,” they’d all mutter and sigh,
And they’d ski right on past as his rants filled the sky.
He’d sit by his cabin, where the cold winds would bite,
Yelling, “This state’s wrong, and not one thing is right!”
He’d shake his old fist at the aurora’s bright glow,
But his fury just fizzled in the deep Arctic snow.
So Dave kept on raging, as the angry ones do bray,
In Alaska’s wild heart, where the caribou can stray.
And the townsfolk ignored him, with their fires burning bright,
While old Maxwell’s complaints vanished into the night.
So If you trek through the snow where the wild winds do call,
You might hear Dave’s grumbling, still cursing them all.
But don’t stop to argue, just mush on with a grin,
For his anger’s as endless as winter’s cold spin!
Love it
TT, a nice poem written from an AI format. It’s delightful to be noticed,and appears you’ve been listening. Your attention however has caused you to let your guard down. What you haven’t noticed is the ever increasing deteriorating slide your State has been on with your ” conservative” overseers in charge! YOU MAY WANT TO RECONSIDER ALLOWING ME TO LIVE RENT FREE IN YOUR HEAD,BECAUSE ITS OBVIOUSLY CAUSING YOU TO NEGLECT THE INCROACHING DANGER AT YOUR DOOR!