Growing up, my mother woke up at 4 a.m. to make tortillas for our family before she went off to work. Her message to my siblings and I was simple. We could either get an education or work out in the fields. She knew that education would provide us with more choices in life especially as Mexican Americans and her advice was spot-on. My siblings and I all went on to get our degrees and have good jobs too. Neither she, nor I, ever imagined I would one day be elected to the Anchorage School Board, but that changed in 2021. It has been my honor to serve for the past three years as I have worked hard to be there for all students so they may have the same opportunities I did because of public education.
With worker shortages in every line of work across the state I believe now more than ever that government investment in education is the way to rebuild our economy and that local workforce development is the way to get workers.
To address this, the Anchorage School District is reworking the traditional high school curriculum to a College, Career and Life ready model that empowers students through college and career exposure so they can get real life experience and make informed decisions about their life after high school. The Anchorage school district will expand opportunities that already exist where students earn certifications in everything from aviation, EMT, culinary, and child care to college credits through a dual degree program. To do this, basic public education needs must be met and lately, it has been challenging.
In Alaska, the amount of money schools receive is based on the Foundation Formula where the average number of students attending school is multiplied times the Base Student Allocation (BSA) which is a per pupil amount of money that is set in statute. Alaska’s constitution requires that our Legislature must “establish and maintain a public school system for all students.” While technically this has been done, the State’s funding formula has remained stagnant since 2017, yet prices for day-to-day goods are up over 27%.
To keep up with rising prices of everything, education funding realistically needs to be $1,413 per student more than it is today. Last year the State Senate approved a permanent $1,000 per student increase and by the time the bill finally passed the House, negotiations resulted only in a one-time funding allocation amounting to about $680 per student.
Last summer the governor surprised everyone by vetoing half of that money which only left the one-time funding increase at about $340 per student leaving the public education system in Alaska right back where it has been for almost 10 years: underfunded.
I know our teachers have been doing more with less, but I know we can do better than that especially for our students and frankly, we must.
