Based on chronically low student performance across our state (except for some wonderful pockets of excellence sprinkled in both urban and rural regions), a constitutional duty must now be met by the legislature and the state.
Very few are discussing it and are aware. The media failed to cover it when I pointed it out on the Senate floor last May or have discussed it since. You likely will be among the first to know as you read this. In a nutshell: to meet our constitutional duty, it is time for the legislature, for the state, to take a more directive role to ensure basic learning and proficiency attainment are occurring for a substantial majority of Alaska’s students.
The language from the 2007 Moore v State of Alaska spells it out nicely. (I’ve added the highlights, italics, bold font, underlining, and capitalization for you for emphasis.)
“There is “no silver bullet” in education, and as the evidence regarding Bering Strait School District clearly demonstrated, there is a benefit in experimentation and in according to local school districts the opportunity to direct their funds in the manner that they believe will best meet the needs of students within their district, particularly given the great diversity within this state. But the Alaska Constitution sets some limits. If generations of children within a school district are failing to achieve proficiency, if a school or a district has not adopted an appropriate curriculum to teach language arts and math that is aligned with the State’s performance standards, if basic learning is not taking place for a SUBSTANTIAL MAJORITY of a school’s children, then the Constitution places the obligation upon the Legislature to ensure that the State is directing its best efforts to remedy the situation. Here, the evidence has persuasively demonstrated that more funding is not the answer. FOR THE STATE TO FAIL TO TAKE A CONSIDERABLY MORE DIRECTIVE ROLE IN THE FACE OF CHRONICALLY POOR PERFORMANCE … AMOUNTS TO AN IMPERMISSIBLE “LEGISLATIVE ABDICATION” OF THE STATE’S CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY TO MAINTAIN PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THIS STATE.“
When you hear me insist that we target any increases in school funding to improve academic outcomes, this is why (along with the fact that I love kids and want them to be well-equipped when they graduate!).
In two days, the House is expected to debate SB 140, the education bill designed to help our students. More than 80 amendments have been drafted to the bill which currently includes increased funding to the base student allocation and pupil transportation; policy and funding changes to support teacher recruitment and retention as well as correspondence programs, and a new pathway for public charter school certification.
