Should Anchorage students get to skip school for ‘mental health’ holidays?
Allowing students to skip school when they feel the need for a mental health holiday is an emerging trend across a number of states throughout the country. The idea is to let kids forgo schooling in order to rest and recreate if they feel stressed out,
Alaska’s rising education expenses fueled by benefits and a growing administrative apparatus
By Sarah Montalbano – Alaska Policy Forum The Reason Foundation recently published the 2022 K–12 education spending spotlight examining school finance trends from 2002 to 2020. The Alaska data points, calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau, show
Alaska students are a year behind U.S. average in reading, math
By Sarah Montalbano – Alaska Policy Forum Introduction Late October brought the release of the 2022 results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card. The NAEP is a nationwide assessment
Most NEA-Alaska spending goes to staff, not dues-paying school employees
By Sarah Montalbano – Alaska Policy Forum The National Education Association-Alaska (NEA-Alaska) claims that it “advocates for an excellent public education” and “advances the interests of public-school employees.” Yet, its tax records
Anchorage School Board Member: District must be held accountable, before seeking more money
The Anchorage School District, which has been mired in disastrous student educational outcomes over the past several years, should not ask state lawmakers for increased state funding without first being willing to demonstrate accountability for the millions
State of Alaska works with nonprofits to train teens to be woke activists
The annual LeadOn conference, which targets 13-to 17-year-olds, took place this past weekend at Embassy Suites in Anchorage. Youth applied to attend the three-day event, Nov. 11-13, and sat through various workshops focused on sexuality, gender identity and
Report: Alaska school districts need to improve transparency
By Sarah Montalbano – Alaska Policy Forum The Heritage Foundation recently released its inaugural Education Freedom Report Card for the U.S. Alaska ranked 45th in the nation and ranks in the bottom ten states for a lack of conventional school
Mat-Su election results: School board stays solidly conservative – moderate assembly incumbents win
With 100% of precincts reporting, and roughly 4,100 early and absentee votes yet to be tabulated, here is where the Mat-Su Borough election results from Nov. 8 stand. SCHOOL BOARD It looks like the already conservative Mat-Su School Board has moved a bit more
FACT CHECK: AK Beacon won’t admit that homeschool growth has districts reeling
Last month, the Alaska Beacon published a long article about the financial woes impacting several large school districts across the state. The writers noted that Fairbanks and Anchorage are closing schools and laying off teachers due to massive budget
School choice advocate urges Alaskans to vote for statewide constitutional convention
Leigh Slone, the founder of Brave Nation and a leading voice for parental rights and school choice in Alaska, is urging her followers to vote for a constitutional convention in order to change the way Alaska chooses judges while opening the door for greater