OPINION: Alaska’s schools need our help

“1-2-3, eyes on me!” In the past, this was an attention-grabber for my class. Now, I’m using it for all Alaskans. There is a crisis, and many of our Alaska families are just starting to become aware of it. However, many teachers, principals, staff, students and families have been feeling the repercussions. As we head toward the Aug. 20 state primary election, I hope you’ll vote for pro-education candidates, because the future of this state depends on it.

The Anchorage School District, or ASD, has close to 500 positions open. There are teacher aide, teacher and specialist positions unfilled. There are 46 unfilled teaching positions open. There is a huge shortage of substitute teachers, which doesn’t help the morale and the stress levels for teachers. Last year, I was a long-term substitute for a class for the first quarter and was asked several times to fill unfilled teaching positions in the ASD. There is talk about a teacher shortage, but in reality, it is not a teacher shortage; it’s a teacher exodus. Teachers with better Tier 2 Teacher Retirement System benefits are retiring, and we don’t have a plan to incentivize new teacher retention, since Alaska has the worst retirement program in the country. Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan of offering teachers a one-time bonus of a few thousand dollars is unacceptable. If you were Tier 3 teacher, would you be happy with that Band-Aid and no pension?

I “retired” in 2022. I would have been a Tier 2 teacher with benefits at retirement, but I stayed home with my kids until they began school. I began as a Tier 3 teacher. The teacher tier system is different than the state’s; teacher Tier 3 benefits are equivalent to the similarly insufficient Tier 4 benefits in the Public Employee Retirement System. No Social Security, no pension and no health care after retirement. Tens of thousands of dollars in sick leave was not paid to me when I left due to being Tier 3. I would have stayed a few more years, but there was not a pension carrot keeping me there. I ended my career with a huge class and behavior issues I couldn’t manage without support from above.

Fast forward to 2023-24. Gov. Dunleavy slashed half — $87 million — of the one-time funding our state legislators had approved. This year, most legislators tried to update the Base Student Allocation formula funding simply to catch up with inflation, but House Republicans voted to sustain the governor’s veto of that essential bill. Schools are struggling to keep the lights on while the governor has worked the process to give himself a 67% raise. We haven’t had a raise in the BSA in seven years, while inflation and costs of health care and maintenance have gone up. Both Dunleavy and education commissioner Deena Bishop have Tier 1 pensions and medical care for the rest of their lives, and now have another salary with the state. Meanwhile, the state has a new unfunded mandate to raise student outcomes. It’s a wonderful concept, but school districts are not given extra funds to hire staff to meet the new criteria. If they were given funds, many positions wouldn’t be filled, because the wages and benefits aren’t attractive.

Alaska is not addressing the root of the problem — we need to support teachers and staff with reasonable class sizes. We need more paraprofessionals/teacher aides to help with classes and behavior. We need to pay a living wage to staff, bus drivers, paraprofessionals and teachers. We need to bring back a pension for school employees. In addition, we need to support a return of pensions for state employees, firefighters and our police officers. If Alaska wants to keep a talented workforce, we need to be competitive with the Lower 48 and offer good benefits.

Defunding public education has been devastating for neighborhood schools, charter schools and alternative programs. Every family has a stake in the success of our schools, just like every local business has a stake in an outstanding public education system that helps students develop skills to be innovative and productive employees.

There is already a large migration of Alaskans moving to the Lower 48. It’s up to all of us as voters to fix this crisis now. In the August primary and November general election, let’s make some positive changes for Alaska and our future by electing legislators who support pro-education bipartisan majorities. The future of our state and our economy depends on it.

Beth Kemp taught in Anchorage schools for more than 15 years.

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