From a laid-off teacher to Alaska Senate majority
After my first year guiding the academic and social-emotional development of my community's children, I have lost my job due to the inability of you to finish yours. I am angry at how you are treating me and the other educators of Alaska. We are being treated like disposable, replaceable and nonessential pawns in a game of chess. I am angry because this political game is destructive to the lives of hundreds of Alaska teachers and all of the students now without a teacher. Along with our jobs, we teachers are losing our health insurance, our financial stability and our sense of worth and belonging to our community, and it is forcing some of us to find a sense of security outside of Alaska.
When your destructive game drives highly qualified educators outside, it destroys Alaska's future. When we lose good teachers, our kids lose, and our future is then lost. Before a child can learn to their greatest potential, they require safety, which is built and maintained in structure, reliability and, most importantly, relationships. When the adults who cultivate a culture of safety in a school are removed, a sense of the unknown ripples through the community, destabilizing that critical sense of safety needed in a child's development. When you play a game with Alaska's schools, you become a destructive force upon our future.
Rather than "business as usual" and pink slips every year while you debate how important education is, try thinking beyond money. I guarantee you, without a doubt, that Alaska's children are worth every penny in taxes you levy that fully fund (or even forward fund) education. I guarantee you that money doesn't mean a thing if we don't provide for our children's future. It takes a village to raise a child and a village is doomed if it doesn't live up to the task. To spend money on education today is to invest in our future; the return on that investment will be a highly qualified, strong and capable workforce and community.
Please finish your job so I can do mine. Please invest in our future by fully funding education.
— Brent Ramsay
laid-off intermediate teacher
Denali Montessori School
Anchorage
Those who voted for Trump are victims of the biggest con of all
Gayle Sanders' effort to legitimize Trump and slam the "liberal" ADN (Letters, May 23) and its readers for being anti-Trump "… challenges us to use our own brain, and search out both sides of the news." To this I would say, had Americans who voted for Trump in the first place followed that advice, the unpopular, illegitimate president (for now) wouldn't be in office. Those who voted for him are victims of the biggest con in history and have been played hugely. They did no homework.
This administration and its despotic Cabinet of billionaires are nothing more than the Bush Jr. administration on steroids (but worse in so many ways) and are out to fleece America under the hugely failed guise of "trickle-down economics." So the question to ask is, who will benefit from this disastrous spoiled brat of a president. The elite rich, the middle class or the poor? Do some homework. (Hint: The answer is in this newspaper.)
— Wayne Jones
Palmer
Russians were hardly benevolent toward Alaska's Natives
My deepest respect for historian Dr. Steve Haycox was severely challenged with his recent opinion piece, "Russian extremists want Alaska back."
I had to read the piece twice as it was not clear whether the following statements were his own or meant to depict a Russian-centric distortion of history:
"The Russian fur trappers, who first encountered the Natives of Alaska in the Aleutians and later in the Alexander Archipelago treated them with compassion and benevolence, nurturing their values. …"
"The Natives were too incompetent to fend for themselves and only the instruction and leadership they received from the Russians allowed them to survive and ultimately prosper as they did under Russian tutelage."
I believe Dr. Haycox to be a creditable historian and assume it is an interpretation of Russian extremist sentiment. However, I am compelled to respond lest readers think the statements are an accurate reflection of history.
The historical facts affirm that under the Russian administration, it was not benevolence but rather Russian barbaric treatment towards the Aleuts that resulted in their near extinction and reduced their population from nearly 15,000 to just over 1,000.
Furthermore, the ability of Southeast Alaska Natives to keep the Russians contained with the use of American weaponry is also well known in history. The historic battle of 1802, during which the Tlingits famously drove the Russians from their settlement in Sitka, is thoroughly laid out in the award-winning book "Anóoshi Lingít Aaní Ká: Russians in Tlingit America, The Battles of Sitka 1802 and 1804," which was edited by Nora and Richard Dauenhauer and published by Sealaska Heritage Institute.
— Dr. Rosita Worl
president Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau
Keep dogs on grill, not in car
On Memorial Day, Americans flock outside to celebrate the unofficial start of summertime with picnics, parades, and cookouts with family and friends. As we all kick off the sunny season over the holiday weekend, American Humane, the country's first national humane organization, is reminding pet owners that hot dogs belong on the grill — not in parked cars.
Even when it's a comfortable 70 degrees outside, the temperature inside a parked car can climb to 90 degrees in just 10 minutes — and up to 110 degrees in less than an hour — exposing our furry friends to serious risks, including discomfort, severe illness and even death. Responsible animal lovers should also remember to do their part to help save other pets from danger: If you see a distressed dog inside a parked car on a warm day, immediately call local animal control or law enforcement for help.
— Robin Ganzert, Ph.D.
president and CEO, American Humane
Washington, D.C.
Choose to live here? Chip in
In response to Greg Svendsen's response (May 26) to my letter (May 23), where he says he is not getting a free ride (opposing an income tax) because he pays Anchorage property tax, and Anchorage needs a sales tax to make everyone coming to Anchorage support Anchorage: That is an interesting suggestion but does not address my point, our state budget deficit, the feckless state Senate, and the state House being the adult in the room.
City government and state government are two separate problems.
If you choose to live in Anchorage and own property, you pay property tax (as I have for decades). If you choose to live in Alaska and have so benefited from its resources and infrastructure that you make a good living, you should be willing to chip in for state government and services, as I am, just as I pay federal income tax for a functioning government.
The state budget is critical now — we don't want to return to the '80s, when all our houses lost half their value. That's where the Senate would take us.
— Gail Heineman
Anchorage
State income tax could rescue Alaska's educational system
I am a seventh-grader at Romig Middle School. At Romig, three of our amazing teachers have already been cut and I know two of them personally. One of them was a coach for cross-country running, cross-country skiing and track and field. Another of the teachers being cut is the wife of my science teacher. She helped out my team by going with us on a field trip when one of our core teachers was unavailable.
Another thing that is being cut is debate, which is one of the favorite classes of Romig. All of the middle schoolers who participate in debate love it. It helps with solving problems and teaching us how to think about both sides of our problems. Debate is a way for us to learn how to gather information and solve problems of the United States.
I am confused as to why education keeps on being cut. We are the future of the world and yet our learning is being defunded. To have the best future, we need to invest in our youths and give them every opportunity to learn and grow. Our innovation and intelligence will run the world, yet our opportunities to learn about the world that awaits us, and to learn about how to solve problems, are being taken away. With more education, more people will have jobs and that leads to a better future.
This should be a call to action. We need to reinstate the income tax; that way we can bring back the teachers, classes and programs that we've lost. If we can receive funding for schools again, then we can return the things that we have lost due to budget cutting. What is the logical reason not to bring back income tax? It would provide us with better education systems, and that will lead to a better future. We are this planet's future, so why aren't we treated like it?
— Brenna Gessner
Anchorage
Single-payer system viable
Dear Sens. Murkowski and Sullivan,
The only viable solution for affordable health care, especially in Alaska, is a single-payer system. You can provide an option for people to buy private insurance as they wish.
Please remember that we Alaskans voted for you to represent our interests. You are in Washington to serve we the people, not the Republican Party and not your cooperate donors. Please act accordingly.
— Marie Bair
Anchorage
Implementing universal right to health care could kill republic
At Sen. Dan Sullivan's recent town meeting he was asked if health care was a right or a privilege, and a May 25 commentary from Kevin McGee of the Anchorage NAACP insists that Alaskans will prematurely die from "Trumpcare's" inadequacies.
The U.S. Constitution will ultimately confirm health care as a legal right, and "Trumpcare" will undoubtably be found wanting for those too poor or too sick.
Unfortunately, implementing such a universal right to health care is going to be the death of the republic. Why? Because it constitutes a cultural tipping point wherein every form of human peculiarity can now demand and expect to receive constitutional protection, in the process rejecting the narrow social perspective of their erstwhile oppressors — white Christian males — the torch-bearers of Calvinism, the once-dominant culture of personal responsibility before God. It's Calvinism in conjunction with English law that, in turn, largely constructed the political framework of this country. But in the chaotic social environment now dominant, virtually every liberal, and many conservatives, have become disconnected from the reality of nature. Each has been convinced he's infinitely precious and thereby constitutionally deserving of infinite regard, including infinite claim to health resources regardless of lifestyle, natural affliction, age or medical condition.
Our nation has been cast adrift from its mooring; can it be fortunate enough, over 200 years later, to again find a safe harbor?
— Larry Slone
Homer
Look for media alternatives
Six network conglomerates own 90 percent of all TV, radio, newspapers, internet, magazines, videos, wire services and photo agencies. Do not be duped; look for alternative sources of real progressive/liberal news and commentary, and only then decide who speaks for you.
Join me to see free speech TV on Dish 9415, or Direct TV 348. This corporate mind bending is nearly complete and you must at least take a breath.
— William Bartee
Anchorage
Income tax and bond rating
The nine no-income-tax states have a higher bond rating than the 41 with an income tax (on average). Four of the nine no-income-tax states have an AAA rating (almost half of them). An income tax for Alaska would be irresponsible. (Source: http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2014/06/09/sp-ratings-2014)
— Wiley Brooks
Anchorage
Take more, contribute more
No matter what it is, if one group of individuals takes more from a system than any other group, shouldn't the group that takes more be required to contribute more?
— Eric Olenick
Anchorage
Give legislators the pink slips
Pink slip time again! What a miserable way to treat teachers. Would our legislators be willing to accept the possibility of pink slips coming to them at the end of regular session? Seems they can only get important things done, like budget, in overtime. They then draw pay and per diem. Sadly, we lose some very dedicated and talented teachers with this cruel system. There should be a better way.
— Jean Shadrach
Anchorage
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.