Many of us complain that our education system is broken and failing our kids and our country. Mayor Sullivan of Anchorage hosted an Education Summit in mid-November and invited 100 participants to hear about making the Anchorage School District a world class education system. As a followup to that summit, the Mayor will host six community conversations to involve more of the community and to move the improvement process forward. So, if you are concerned with changing the educational system and improving Anchorage’s education system so all our kids can compete in the global economy, you need to register for these “community conversations”. For more information go to: http://www.muni.org/Departments/Mayor/Pages/Mayor’sEducationSummit.aspx.

If you haven’t been oversaturated with the discussions on development of Alaska’s oil resources and the taxing of that resource, then you have a splendid opportunity to learn more from both sides of the argument. Is Alaska’s tax structure on oil too progressive and thus limiting production from old wells? Does the ACES tax structure encourage mostly development from newly discovered wells? There are many questions and it is very difficult to determine where the truth lies.

If the ACES tax is modified, as suggested in HB 110, will the petroleum companies be encouraged to produce and develop more of Alaska’s oil resources? Or will they just take the money and run? One almost needs a ouija board to decipher the discussion. By the way, the State gets 90% of its operating budget funding from oil revenue. What would Alaska do if this revenue stream disappeared? Every person in the state, man, woman and child, would have to ante up more than $14,000 annually to pay for the state’s current spending levels.

The Anchorage Tea Party is hosting “The Future of ACES” on Thursday, January 12 at 6:30pm. The event will be held at 3801 Centerpoint Drive, 1st floor. Talk show host Glen Biegel will moderate the panel which will consist of Senator Bill Wielechowski, Senator Cathy Giessel and Rebecca Logan (AK Industry Support Alliance). So, both sides of the issue will be heard. Following the discussion, there will be a Q&A and an ACES straw poll.

So, bring your ouija boards and help untie this Gordian Knot!

(Cato Institute, Timothy Sandefur) The Environmental Protection Agency has many administrative powers including the use of compliance orders to deny property owners the right to use their property without judicial recourse. In Idaho, Michael and Chantelle Sackett purchased property on which to build their dream home in 2005. After clearing the property and backfilling in preparation for laying the foundation, they were served by the EPA with a  wetland “compliance order” to cease building and return the land to its original state. When the Sacketts attempted to challenge the compliance order with a hearing before the EPA or a federal judge  they found that they had no right for a hearing in either venue. They only could assert their rights when, and if, the EPA filed an “enforcement” action. In other words, the Sacketts could only challenge the EPA determination that their property was designated a wetlands when the EPA allowed them, regardless of the EPA’s denial of their property rights. This would be bad enough if it weren’t for the $37,500 per day fine the Sacketts would incur if they did not restore the property to its original condition within 5 months. (read more…)

(Capitol Research Center) Taxpayers paid more than $129 million in salaries and benefits to federal employees for doing “official” union work in 2009. These federal employees logged about 3 million hours and received government paychecks for doing union work. How can this be? Title V of the US Code allows federal employees to do union work while on the job working for the taxpayer. This is called “official” time in the Code. In effect, the taxpayer pays for activities which provide literally no direct public benefit. This can also include union lobbying activities for federal legislation. So, you may be paying for a union representative to complain about inadequate bathrooms, parking spaces or inadequate windows in offices. This happens while the union representative (federal employee) is collecting a paycheck from you, the taxpayer. (read more…)

“Closing the Education Achievement Gap” 

Dr. Ben Chavis, founder of the American Indian Model (AIM) Charter School in Oakland, California will present on the topic of motivating students, especially minority and lower income students, to achieve their maximum potential. His AIM middle school is now the #1 achieving middle school in all of California. Ninety-two percent of the students speak English as a second language, 97% qualify for free/reduced lunch, and 98% of the students are minorities. How does he do this?

Many would call his method “tough love.” Whatever it is, it seems to work, and work very well. He insists on high student expectations, personal responsibility from each student, structured classrooms, and enforced discipline. Dr. Chavis has been featured on John Stossel’s “Stupid in America” series which focused on education successes in America. Some say Dr. Chavis is not politically correct; he would say his only concern is for the kids in his schools, not the political correctness of his views and methods. He is concerned with outcomes and ensuring all his students achieve their maximum potential.

An Inspiring Story

When Dr. Chavis became the principal of the middle school, it was sometimes referred to as the zoo. Neighbors hated it because the students were out of control and wreaked havoc in the area. It was the worst middle school in Oakland. Chavis realigned the culture of the school from one of low expectations/high self esteem to one of highest expectations/maximum achievement.

Join us to hear what Dr. Chavis has to say about our education system and solutions that he has made work in his schools. It will be an outstanding evening!

Wilda Marston Theater/Loussac Library

Tuesday, January, 24, 2012

6:30-9:00PM

We have heard much about Alaska’s film tax credit incentive and whether or not it benefits the State as a whole or only special interests. Forty states offered similar tax credits in 2010. Many of these states have now abandoned these credits because they do not create the promised jobs for their citizens.  The glamour and Hollywood hype are there but are the financial benefits? The Legislature needs to closely audit the investment and the returns for our economy before it reauthorizes the film tax credit. The Tax Foundation’s Joseph Henchman has reviewed the status of these credits and reports that many states have abandoned them.(read more...)

Earlier in November, the Alaska Policy Forum released a report card for the schools in the Anchorage School District. With that report card as a starting point, the Forum created a more improved rating system, and integrated it into a clickable map for easier navigation. If you have questions or comments about this map, feel free to email

Bob Griffin, Education Research Fellow, Alaska Policy Forum at bgriffin at alaskapolicyforum dot org  

or

David Boyle, Research Associate, Alaska Policy Forum at dboyle at alaskapolicyforum dot org.

Take me to the ASD Report Card

(The Manhattan Institute) The Obama Administration’s energy policy apparently consists of subsidizing so-called “green” energy with taxpayers’ dollars and ending fossil fuel exploration/production. The Energy Department had no problem handing out $529 million in loan guarantees to now-defunct Solyndra in quick fashion. Meanwhile, the Keystone XL pipeline project, from the Canadian border to Houston, TX is held up until after the 2012 elections. It seems as if the Administration is only concerned with the environmental special interests and not creating good paying jobs for middle class Americans. It is clear where the president’s priorities are: appeasing special interests until after the election.

Not only would the Keystone XL project create nearly 20,000 jobs for several years, it would also provide about 700,000 barrels per day of vital energy supply, thus lowering our dependence on countries not friendly to us. Robert Bryce, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, states that the Keystone XL project would generate 46% more energy than all of America’s solar and wind energy sources. (read more…)

UPDATE, Monday November 28, 2011:

Alaska Policy Forum has revised the letter grades that were assigned to the SBA averages for each school in the Anchorage School District. The new system is as follows:

We feel this grading system to be a better representation of the SBA testing results. We have also created a clickable map to better display the grades and make the information more accessible (Flash required). To view the new map, visit here:

http://www.alaskapolicyforum.org/resources/anchorage-school-district-report-card/

END UPDATE

We all remember the days when report cards were given to us by teachers and the great anxieties those days held. This was especially true when the grades were not good and we had to show them to our parents so they could sign off on the report card. Some of us even tried to hide our “achievements”!  If students are graded and held accountabl for their achievements,then school districts should be accountable and receive grades, as well.

For example, Florida has graded all its schools since 1999 on an A to F scale, resulting in dramatic improvements in student achievement. These schools are required to prominently post the school grade at the school. We have developed a grading system for the ASD based on results of the Standards Based Assessment (SBA) tests administered to public school students in grades 3 through 9. Students in tenth grade are required to take a combined SBA/HSGQE test. Per the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development,  ”the SBA in grades 3 through 10 measure student achievement in relation to the performance standards/grade level expectations.”  All students in grades 3-10 are assessed in reading, writing and mathematics.

This report card only considers scores in mathematics and language arts, with the reading and writing scores combined for an average into a language arts score. The scores in language arts and mathematics were averaged together and a school grade was assigned based on the following: see above.

If your child is having difficulties with the Everyday Math program or is doing well in the EDM program, then you should attend the community input meeting the School District is hosting and provide comments. This is your golden opportunity to help your child with math. The School District is reviewing the EDM program and soliciting input from parents as part of the decision making process of the selection/retention of a math program for K-6 students.

The Council of Great City Schools issued a report on the Everyday Math program in ASD in February of this year. There is a wealth of information in the report including comments from teachers and principals. In summary, the report places responsibility for poor implementation of the EDM program on the staff and Administration-and this is after nearly 15 years of the program in the ASD. It is hard to imagine that the District can improve this program with additional professional development in the near future.

So, if you or your children are having problems with Everyday Math in school, get to the community input meeting at Begich Middle School at 6pm, October 18th. Remember, this is about all the kids.  See you there.

(more info…)