An open letter to Alaska state Sen. Cathy Giessel:
You and fellow legislators are faced with the exceptionally difficult task of creating a reasonable budget for our state when our primary source of revenue is no longer generating the funding we need. As you head into a special session, I would hope that you and others are feeling like most Alaskans who have been paying attention, understanding that we cannot simply cut our way out of the huge deficits we are facing. It is time to implement other sources of raising revenue. I support any number of measures to do this; it could be a repurposing of the Permanent Fund earnings, a progressive income tax, a state sales tax or a combination of all three. As an oil wife who does not want to see the state alienate the industry that has made Alaska great, I am still in favor of reconsidering current oil tax credits. I understand that during tough times, everyone needs to make sacrifices and contributions.
With that being said, I am gravely disappointed with the graph you have posted on social media titled "Education Funding and Graduation Rates" and your comment that it "clearly shows that throwing money at the problem doesn't solve anything." That is an outrageously unfair statement that falsely oversimplifies the complex host of issues that plague public education. I know that you must know that.
[ICYMI: Alaska's education spending still outpaces the rest of the US by far]
I could go on about how a good percentage of the money included for "funding education" is for health care (some of the highest rates in the nation) and the retirements of educators who have long been out of the classroom and therefore have no immediate impact on today's students. I could go on about the high cost of providing services of any kind to most parts of our state. I could go on about how public education is continuously faced with dealing with all of society's problems like substance abuse, domestic abuse, mental illness and poverty — Alaska sadly has some of the highest rates for each.
In a perfect world, we would not expect public schools to have to deal with all of these issues. However, as we both know, it is not a perfect world, but thank God that we as a nation believe that every child is entitled to an education, so we must face that reality. For the health and welfare of our nation we have to give today's children a fighting chance. Your statement tells me that you believe that providing every child an opportunity to learn is "throwing money at the problem." Your statement suggests that our children are failing, but the truth is: We are failing our children.
I am not suggesting that additional funding for education is the cure-all. However, when you make cuts to education you are taking away resources that will impact the quality of education our students receive. Can money in education be better spent? Absolutely. Should every school district across Alaska be looking at ways to tighten its belt and make the best of what it has? Yes, of course. While I can't speak for every district in Alaska, as someone who has been a student, educator and is now a parent of two in the Anchorage School District I can tell you that I have personally witnessed the impact of funding highs and lows in the classrooms for almost 40 years. ASD has been tightening its belt for years. There are fewer support services and higher class sizes. Cuts have been made in administration too.
[LAST CUTS: Advocates outraged at last-minute proposal from Legislature to slash $13 million from schools funding]
The slight increases in the Base Student Allocation were supposed to help keep up with the cost of inflation. When you take away those expected increases it impacts the classroom directly. I am also appalled at how much time and labor is spent on ASD having to play a guessing game about its funding every year based on what the Legislature provides and seeing teachers pink-slipped year after year because of this ridiculous process. There has to be a better way. There has to be a commitment from the state to provide adequate, predictable and sustainable funding for public education. Alaska will see good days and bad but we can assure ourselves of a strong future by properly investing in public education.
You have the power to stop making false and inflammatory comments about public education and to acknowledge that there are no simple solutions to all of its challenges. It is terribly disheartening to supposedly be represented by a senator who is so flagrantly opposed to an institution that Americans should be proud is an integral part of our nation. I urge you to retract your statement and seek solutions that will genuinely support our students and educators.
Valerie Buckendorf is a founding member of Great Alaska Schools. She lives in Anchorage.
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