OPINION: The constitution or correspondence schools? Alaska can and should have both.

NEA-Alaska supports all students and families whether they attend a neighborhood, charter, optional, correspondence, private, religious or home school. We believe our elected leaders in Juneau do, too. But right now, Alaska families need action from lawmakers of all parties to fix what’s broken.

Late in the day on Friday, April 12, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman issued a summary judgement ruling in the case of Alexander v. Acting Commissioner Heidi Teshner. This ruling sided with the plaintiffs and struck down Alaska Statutes 14.03.300-.310 as unconstitutional. Those statutes dictate how Alaska correspondence school programs distribute funds to pay for students’ educational opportunities beyond the walls of traditional neighborhood schools.

At issue was a particularly glaring section of statute that outlined how families could use public funds to purchase materials and classes “from a public, private, or religious organization.” Those four words, “private, or religious organization,” have been the law of the land since 2014 and have been unconstitutional the entire time. This section was added at the behest of then-Sen. Mike Dunleavy, who actually testified in legislative committees that the language was unconstitutional but pushed for it anyway. That language had its day in court, and the constitution prevailed.

Since this decision was announced, there has been a great deal of speculation, animosity, and vitriol aimed at NEA-Alaska, the association of dedicated public education employees I serve, and I’d like to set the record straight.

First and foremost, I have never met an educator who doesn’t believe every student should have every opportunity to learn in an environment that works best for them. From correspondence programs to home school, public charters, neighborhood schools, and yes, private and religious schools, each family needs to make their own decision about what will be most advantageous to their own children. This lawsuit was never about removing those opportunities or decisions, it was about adherence to the language of our state’s constitution, a document all elected officials in Juneau swear an oath to uphold.

As a reminder, Article VII, Section 1 of the Alaska Constitution reads, “The legislature shall by general law establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the State, and may provide for other public educational institutions. Schools and institutions so established shall be free from sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.” The last sentence could not be clearer.

There is room in Alaska for robust options for parents and students to educate their children without violating the constitution. We know we can do it because before this language was added in 2014, we had correspondence and home school programs that utilized public education dollars in a responsible manner and didn’t try to circumvent the Alaska Constitution.

Student learning takes all forms, requires creativity and should reflect the values we want our children to embody. This is why we have options. However, at a time when public schools, including public charter schools, are struggling to make ends meet, it is irresponsible to funnel tens of millions of public-school dollars into private and religious schools without any accountability or oversight.

Our association wants a solution that preserves constitutional correspondence school programs, home school options, public charter schools, and traditional neighborhood schools. We have requested a stay in a lawsuit we prevailed in, because we don’t want learning disrupted or families to be placed in challenging situations. Gov. Dunleavy and the Alaska Legislature can fix this problem once and for all by reading the Alaska Constitution and passing a correspondence school law that complies with it. Of the myriad challenges our education system is facing right now, this is the simplest fix. All we ask is that our leaders come to the table and pass such a bill immediately.

Tom Klaameyer is the president of NEA-Alaska.

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