OK enough letters bemoaning the pending cuts to education. Alaska spends more per capita than any other state and we graduate 69 percent. I've seen private "religious" schools, (poison for the First Amendment freaks) produce better quality students with much less. The 2012 "Program for International Student Assessment" U.S. students up against 65 other countries testing for math, science and reading including South Korea and Singapore who dominated, beat us badly. Embarrassing! Shameful!
The system is not working and more money is not going to help. Someone needs to think out of the box. This is not a jobs program and stop suggesting it's for the kids. We have some good, even great, teachers; I also believe the system inhibits their success. We have some bad teachers the union protects. The unions and NEA clearly inhibit success.
— William Ahrens
Eagle River