The public education system in Alaska is failing, and the governor knows it. This is a situation similar to the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. The crew knew that it was taking on so much water that sinking was inevitable. Alaska’s public education system is facing financial collapse due to dropping attendance, but while our leadership in Juneau knows it, they are incapable of fixing things due to bureaucratic incompetence and a self-imposed limitation they find in the Alaska Constitution.
Governor Dunleavy has at least recognized the problem exists. The governor knows that the public isn’t happy with the current public schools and are seeking alternatives. In response the governor has instructed Alaska’s education department to solicit input from citizens on ways for improvement. While the department has complied with the governor’s request, they have done so in a complex bureaucratic way that is destined to fail. The solution to Alaska’s education challenge does not lie in making minor tweaks to the Alaska Administrative Code.
I suspect the education department’s lackadaisical attempt to comply with the governor’s request was intentional bureaucratic obfuscation. Like a tax audit, if you provide an overwhelming amount of data, finding what the auditors are looking for is like finding a needle in a haystack. Good luck finding any cost savings in that department!
Instead of benefitting our children, the legislature appears to be searching for ways to preserve their source of campaign funds.
The legislature isn’t doing much better. Last year’s wasteful HB 57 greatly increased school spending but did nothing to address the fundamental problems facing schools, namely declining enrollment. The legislature’s spending bill was just a temporary bandage plastered over a gaping financial wound that gets bigger every year.
Doubling down on stupid, the legislature did what all legislatures do, they formed a committee to investigate the situation and make recommendations. They formed an education funding task force with five of the six voting members being recipients of campaign donations from the NEA-Alaska PAC. You can be sure that any solution this committee recommends will be fully endorsed by the education lobby and preserve some form of the status quo. Therein lies the heart of the problem. It all comes down to money, and how it will benefit the teachers’ union. Lost in all of this bureaucratic mumbo jumbo is finding any meaningful way to improve the education of our kids. Instead of benefitting our children, the legislature appears to be searching for ways to preserve their source of campaign funds.
However, there are promising ideas out there. At least one legislator understands the problems and how to solve them. Representative Kevin McCabe published a white paper in October that contained some well thought out ideas. The gist of his article was to reduce the number of school districts in Alaska to reduce administrative costs and to provide more choices for alternative school options funded by the state. Both sound like reasonable ideas. You can read his full thoughts on this matter here.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Another individual who published a well-developed strategy to improve public schooling is political commentator Michael Tavoliero. He suggests the implementation of educational savings accounts could allow Alaska students to select the school of their choice and receive equitable funding from the state. You can read his thoughts here.
Both McCabe and Tavoliero have suggested much better ideas for delivering education to Alaska kids than has the education department or the legislature.
Both of their plans deserve strong consideration, but there is one obstacle in their way. The courts currently interpret the Alaska Constitution to prohibit state funding for schools that have a religious affiliation. Given the freedom to choose, some parents might want their kids to attend one of the excellent religious schools in this state, and critics have used this as a cudgel to stop any meaningful school reform.
Read the upcoming Part 2 of this series to understand where that prohibition came from and why it isn’t the impediment that everybody thinks it is. It all comes down to determining the best choice for educating our kids, and the current system is not the answer.
The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.
2 Comments
The only thing the grifter McCabe cares about is the size of his PFD check.
So, Reggie T how do you feel about the above article? Do you believe there are better way to educate our children? Comment about the subject and try to be more positive. Thank you for paying attention to this matter.