Due to the unfair treatment I had witnessed toward my children’s charter school by the Anchorage School Board and my recent job displacement that seemed entirely like a publicity stunt, I resolved to attend Saturday’s legislative town hall at University of Alaska . As I turned the corner to enter the Cuddy Center, I encountered a barricade.
The Anchorage Education Association, an affiliate of the NEA, had organized a protest group that made entry to the town hall impossible unless you crossed far behind their red-shirted, borg-like lineup or directly in front of their barricade. I asked ASD School Board members Kelly Lessens and Carl Jacobs, who were part of the protest, to move aside so we could pass through.
- ASD needs accountability in its spending choices. Did you receive the slew of “rightsizing” or “Academies of Anchorage” emails, only to see the ASD Board vote against their own rightsizing recommendations and Academies planning? We did, and it left us dumbfounded. Did they just waste a $5 million grant? What was their Plan B? Regarding school closures, had they no other source of income on the books to support keeping schools with low enrollment open? I’ve attended the last four months of School Board meetings and work sessions, which showed me they had no plans for improving dismal student test scores and absenteeism or for expanding career choices for students.
- The Permanent Fund dividend should not be the piggy bank for unaccountable spending. Many of our students’ families depend on these funds to pay for things they cannot otherwise afford. I personally could not have attended college without a statutory PFD. There is no specific fiscal note on HB 69; they haven’t explicitly stated how they are paying for it. Trust me, they are coming after poor families’ PFDs.
- NEA is in charge of Anchorage education and acts like a bully. I’m not saying individuals within the group are bullies; I’m saying the way they act as a whole is bullying. As a fellow teacher testified, I felt a disconnect in people’s thinking. NEA rally folks called for more education funding but did not demand accountability in its spending. They couldn’t see that they were just being used as puppets for a district and union that was lousy at budgeting.
- The majority of people testifying parroted back union propaganda.
I receive emails in my work email asking me to attend their union events. At new hire orientation, we are not presented with alternatives. Since de-enrolling from the union and joining another advocacy group, I’ve saved thousands of dollars, gained support, and cleared my conscience.
We were shocked to see so many people testify exactly according to NEA Alaska’s talking points, as if all reason had flown out the window. One man kept repeating how he longed to have himself and everyone taxed. Government does some things well, like arresting mass murderers, but it is pretty lousy at addressing issues like homelessness or education without accountability. Have you driven by the Inlet View School construction site? At the very moment when ASD needs to be refining its spending and building use, they are constructing a huge school downtown next to a usable old school that voters rejected rebuilding several times. How many homeless villages in our beloved parks can you point out?…