The budget cuts being proposed to the Anchorage School District will worsen Alaska’s problem with population loss. More families will move away from Alaska if they don’t like their school options. Other states value public education, and they are willing to pay for it. Alaska has money but hasn’t increased school funding for years.
When we were researching elementary schools for our daughters, we decided to enroll them at Scenic Park Chinese Immersion. It’s a great school! But, had we known that the language immersion program would end at fifth grade, then we would not have started there. We’re one of 44 families with first graders in Chinese immersion, and now many of us are looking at Chinese immersion schools out of state. The savings from cutting language immersion can’t be worth the cost of ending these wonderful programs. The sixth graders at Begich Middle Chinese Immersion have already invested seven years in memorizing Chinese characters.
— Rose and Francis McLaughlin
Anchorage
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