Alaska's children deserve to learn in an atmosphere of hope rather than chaos
Banned Book Week runs from October 1-7. Fill out the pre-session constituent survey of the House Majority Coalition. And join us in welcoming Louie Flora to Team Tobin.
On Thursday, I had the honor of participating in a legislative panel discussion during the fall conference of the Alaska Superintendents Association. Joining me on the panel were my fellow Senate Education Committee member and current classroom teacher Sen. Jesse Bjorkman (R - Nikiski) and two members of the House Education Committee; Rep. Justin Ruffridge (R - Soldotna) and Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I - Sitka). Rep. Himschoot also is a current educator and Rep. Ruffridge is the Co-chair of the House Education Committee.
The big-picture takeaway message from Thursday’s discussion with school district superintendents was that Alaska’s schools need immediate financial stability to keep our public schools providing an excellent education for every student every day. The depth of the challenges facing our schools and educators is staggering. Our public schools are dealing with tremendous staffing shortages while inflation eats away at their buying power. The stark reality reiterated by nearly everyone in the room during Thursday’s discussion was that our schools are severely underfunded and we will continue to see the results of a lack of investment in public education with increasing class sizes, limited course offerings, and continuing high rates of teacher attrition.
The thing that gives me hope is the faith I have in our public education system which is shared by my legislative colleagues and superintendents across the state.
Alaska has great schools and amazing educators but the entire system is falling further and further into disarray with every cut, every veto, and every failed vote to significantly increase our investment in our children’s future.
My commitment to you and the commitment I made to our school district superintendents on Thursday is to continue pushing for a substantial increase to Alaska’s Base Student Allocation. I know that investing in our schools will result in better student performance and allow Alaska's children to learn in an atmosphere of hope rather than chaos.
When the 2024 session gets underway in mid-January, the members of the House of Representatives will have an opportunity to quickly pass an education funding bill in the form of Senate Bill 140, which includes a $680 increase to the Base Student Allocation. It would be the largest BSA increase in Alaska’s history and exactly the kind of investment in education that we need.
Read banned books - Banned Book Week runs from October 1-7
As Banned Book Week approaches, I am dismayed by the increasing efforts to ban books and deny people the right to read what they want to read. On September 19, the American Library Association released some alarming data about the “continued rise in attempts to censor books and materials in public, school, and academic libraries during the first eight months in 2023.”
The idea of banning books is beyond repugnant to me and something I find to be fundamentally anti-Alaskan. In Alaska, we cherish privacy. That’s why we put the right to privacy in our Constitution. We also celebrate diversity, which is why people from all over the world choose to live in this special place. I kind of thought that Alaska was above book banning but, unfortunately, there are recent and ongoing efforts to remove books from library shelves across the state.
Last month, a citizens advisory committee for the Mat-Su Borough School District recommended the removal of four books including a book written by Toni Morrison who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. “The Bluest Eye” is Morrison’s account of a young African-American girl growing up in rural Ohio after the Great Depression. Despite the literary significance of the book, especially to women and people of color, “The Bluest Eye” has been the subject of numerous book-banning efforts. Another book recommended for removal by the citizen’s advisory committee was “It’s Perfectly Normal” by former elementary school teacher Robie Harris. This is one of the most important children’s books focused on sex and sexual health ever written and it is unfathomable that this book would be removed from a school library.
The most unforgivable aspect of the recent efforts to ban books across the country is that most of the books in question were written for people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. On Tuesday morning, I was dismayed to read that librarians in public schools in Charlotte County, Florida were directed to remove every book with LGBTQ+ characters and themes. Such a move is discriminatory and should not be tolerated. I think the efforts at censorship we are seeing across the country are misguided, politically motivated, and often bigoted.
Instead of taking books and putting them outside the reach of people we should celebrate these books by reading them and understanding what they have to say, even if it is uncomfortable and new. That’s why I am going out of my way to highlight Banned Books Week, which runs from October 1 through October 7. I hope you go to your local library, bookstore, or online outlet and pick up one or more of the thousands of books that people have tried to ban in our great country.
Read the Pen America report - Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools
Pen America Index of School Book Bans
The House Minority Caucus needs to hear from you
When the 2024 legislative session gets underway in mid-January, there is a lot of important work to do on behalf of the people of Alaska. I believe it is critically important for the Alaska House of Representatives to act quickly to address the crisis situation in our public schools by passing Senate Bill 140 to increase the Base Student Allocation. It is also important for the Alaska Legislature to pass Senate Bill 88 to improve Alaska’s public sector retirement system and to take up legislation to implement renewable portfolio standards for the Railbelt electric utilities.
What is important to you? What bill needs to pass and what issue needs attention? My Democratic colleagues in the Alaska House Coalition need to hear from you. Take a moment and fill out their 2023 Constituent Survey. The information you provide and the opinions you share are important as we all work together on good public policy that solves problems and helps people.
Good luck to Trevor Bailly at law school and welcome Louie Flora to Team Tobin
To get things done in the Alaska State Legislature you need a good team. That was the advice I received from several former members of the Alaska State Legislature after being elected to the Senate. My goal was to put together a great team focused on implementing good public policy for the benefit of the people of Alaska.
For the past four years, I have worked with Trevor Bailey. He was my fellow staffer in Sen. Tom Begich’s office, and he was the first person I hired for my staff when I was elected to the State Senate. Trevor was my lifeline in so many ways and his contributions to my office and my work in the Senate are incalculable. Despite my vocal and frequent objections, Trevor Bailey went off to law school last month at the University of Pittsburg. Someday soon he is going to be a great lawyer working on behalf of Team Good Guys and I already miss him.
I feel fortunate to fill Trevor’s spot on my staff with a man with extensive experience in the Alaska Legislature and Alaska’s fishing industry. Louie Flora has joined Team Tobin. I’m especially pleased to have Louie on board because he knows how to get things done in the Alaska Legislature. Louie has over a decade of experience working in the Alaska State Legislature and I’m going to rely on him as we work to pass legislation to implement renewable portfolio standards for Alaska. Senate Bill 101 is needed to spur the transition to renewable and clean sources of energy. Louie will also be helping me staff the multiple committees I am serving on including the Senate Health and Social Services Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Louie will also be working on several bills including the Employee Free Speech Bill, SB 109.
Louie is a commercial fisherman and is well known for his advocacy work for The Alaska Center as their Government Affairs Director. Louie also used to write a weekly column called Leg with Louie, which was a must-read for #akleg politicos. Hopefully, he will restart his weekly column for The Latest newsletter. Please join me in welcoming Louie Flora to Team Tobin.
