Care about K-12 education? Curious about how our Legislature can reverse Alaska’s net outmigration trend and reduce the need for additional school closures? Worried about increasing class sizes? Interested in judicial rulings affecting homeschooling?
You can ask questions and learn more about these and other critical topics in K-12 education if you come to an Education Town Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Muldoon Elementary School at 525 Cherry St. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. Pizza will be provided along with door prizes.
I will be co-hosting this event with Anchorage School Board Vice President Carl Jacobs. Elected leaders at all levels of local and state government have been invited. This is an excellent opportunity to connect with policymakers present at this event questions while enjoying pizza.
Questions that could arise include:
• School funding: Is the funding adequate for our schools? Has school funding fallen behind inflation? What is the relationship between funding for schools and class sizes?
• Sources of school funding: Where does the money come from to pay for the public schools in Anchorage? Why is there so much discussion about the Base Student Allocation (BSA)? Why would it be important to testify to the Alaska Legislature about funding the BSA in the upcoming session?
• Drivers of student achievement: What are the most important things that schools can do to help students learn? Given the evidence, how can we work to encourage engagement by families, lower class sizes, make sure that students can master critical early literacy skills, recruit and retain the most effective teachers, and focus on accountability measures? How can we best address obstacles to student achievement such as mental health issues, absenteeism and technology distractions?
• Progress on various initiatives: How has the Reads Act, a new state law which aims to make sure students are reading at grade level by the end of third grade, affected the Anchorage School District (ASD)? How many children are enrolled in pre-kindergarten (pre-K) in Anchorage, and how many should be? What is the status of ASD’s Academies of Anchorage program?
It would be great to see you Tuesday evening, Jan. 14, for pizza and a good discussion of critical issues for our children and our community.
— Rep. Cliff Groh, Anchorage
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