Among the provisions of House Bill 57, a once-simple bill that was about cell phones in schools, is a new mandate that would have the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development track every student for 20 years after he or she graduates from high school.
That amendment is part of the committee substitute of the bill that came out of the Senate Finance Committee.
Liberty-minded Alaskans have said it’s a creepy amendment that has the Department of Labor and Workforce Development reaching into Alaskans’ personal lives.
Section 7 of the committee substitute bill says, the government will “gather data on the progress of each high school graduating class in a district by collecting career, postsecondary education, and residency data on each student in the graduating class; the department shall gather the data required under this paragraph every five years for 20 years after the high school graduation date of each high school graduating class; the department shall publish a biennial report on the data gathered under this paragraph; in this paragraph, “district” has the meaning given in AS 14.17.990.
There is no rationale given for why Alaskans need to be tracked for 20 years by the government.
That amendment is in addition to the tracking that is also added in Section 1, “The department shall collaborate with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development under AS 44.31.020 to gather data on the progress of each high school graduating class in a district by collecting career, postsecondary education, and residency data on each student in the graduating class. The departments shall gather the data every five years for 20 years after the high school graduation date of the class.”
The bill’s amended language creates a “legislative Task Force on Education Funding,” which is most certainly to be stacked with progressives who want to find a way to increase state funding for school districts and unions.
House Bill 57 has become stuffed with multiple provisions, but the biggest one is an increase to school district funding, taking the per-student allocation from the state from $5,960 to $6,660, and another 10% added to pupil transportation costs.
The bill has been held over until Monday on the Senate floor for a final vote.
The rational thing to do is find out who inserted that requirement and ask them why it was added to the bill
While Aldous Huxley says, “I told you so,” George Orwell rolls over in his grave. Cretins. Cretins every one that votes for this.
Typical of Progressives to come up with a fascistic approach to resolving a problem of their own creation. Just get back to the basics of teaching English, arithmetic, reading, writing, and spelling; stop peddling your Bull**** propaganda in the public school system in AK.
When I was a kid in FAI, the Iowa Basics program was the gold standard. Consider reversion to that standard and stop the perversion of public education in my great home state.
Just another reason to veto it.
Big Brother is watching you, Alaska. The surveillance state.
This should be an ABSOLUTE NO GO. Complete invasion of privacy.
Just spend more gang. More of the same idiotic ideas.
Article I – Declaration of Rights
22. Right of Privacy
The right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed. The legislature shall implement this section. [Amended 1972]
Nothing more to say ,,,, Liberty Ed
Who introduced this amendment?