By SEN. MIKE CRONK
As a retired teacher of 25 years and current State senator, I am writing to the Alaska homeschooling community today with a matter of great urgency and importance concerning the future of homeschooling in Alaska.
Recent legislative actions and public discourse have put your homeschooling rights and the choices you make for your children’s education under threat.
With HB 69, the House Majority, strongly supported by the National Education Association (NEA), recently blocked several critical amendments that would have supported correspondence students more equitably. This decision significantly impacts the ability of the state’s highly effective correspondence programs to provide services to families. Services that some families across the state are yearning for, and which best support the individual needs of many of students. (These limitations appear to be the intentional goal of the Majority and NEA).
The amendments sought to rectify the major funding shortfalls these programs experience, as they do not receive the full Base Student Allocation (BSA) or the additional funding allocated for students who need special education services. According to estimates provided by State officials, the funding received by correspondence programs is less than one half of the average funding provided for students in Alaska and often significantly less.
The failure to pass these amendments shows a disconcerting disregard for parental rights and the varied educational needs across our state, affecting both the current families who rely on these programs and the future landscape of homeschooling in Alaska.
It is no coincidence that the votes landed this way if you compare who the NEA supported during the election cycle: Yes, they are much the same. Parents, do you see who is trying to gain control of your child’s education?
Furthermore, the NEA’s 2024-2025 resolutions specifically target homeschooling.
Their Resolution B-88 bluntly states, “The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience” and also states that “The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools.”
Such statements hurt children and not only challenge your decisions but also undermine the vibrant, diverse, and powerful educational journeys many of you are successfully creating for our children while facing significant barriers. For Alaska’s NEA leadership to tell our state that they support homeschooling is a farce. Let me reiterate that, it’s a farce beyond measure and demeaning to our educators.
Contrary to the portrayal of homeschooling in some public narratives, such as a recent short-sighted Alaska Beacon article, Alaska’s homeschooling community is not a fallback option, but a thoughtful choice on the front end, as well as a safety net for children needing a different educational setting.
Homeschooling in Alaska represents a rich history of successes, made evident by the vast achievements of correspondence students who consistently demonstrate academic excellence, placing and earning accolades at state and national scholastic and athletic events on a regular basis. Imagine what they could do if they received even a grain of the same fiscal support?
As Alaskans, we must question the motivations behind these legislative moves, public criticisms and why outside entities like the NEA are trying to tell us what is best for our children and Alaska’s future. Is it truly about educational outcomes, or is it something else? We owe it to our children to fight for their right to the education that best suits their needs, free from undue governmental restrictions, propaganda or opinions.
Let us stand together to challenge these unjust perceptions and policies. Let’s advocate for the recognition of homeschooling as a valid, effective, and vital part of our educational system. Our efforts are not just about safeguarding our rights; they are about ensuring that all educational paths are valued and supported equally.
I want to be very clear about this writing: This is not about “us” vs. “them” with regards to traditional programs, correspondence programs, charter schools and/or residential schools. This is not a win/lose proposition. This is about finding the win for all students.
Every student in Alaska is “OUR” student and deserve to be treated as such. We do not need to listen to those (NEA) who want to divide, who want to pit programs and schools against each other and we should not be a part of that discourse. All of Alaska’s children deserve the opportunity for an exceptional education – not just those they select.
I have always stated that I support every student in how they are educated. My daughters attended public schools, public charter schools, and public residential schools and flourished in all those settings.
Whether it be public brick and mortar schools, public correspondence schools, public charter schools, or public residential schools.
I urge each of you to speak out, engage with your legislators, and make your voices heard. Together, we can protect and enhance not only home school students in Alaska, but all students and how their parents choose (parental choice) to educate their children. It’s imperative that we ensure that homeschool remains a robust and respected choice for many families and another option for serving our children.
Sen. Mike Cronk serves Alaska from the Interior Senate Seat R.
The Democrats want homeschool children to get 20 cents on the dollar, and also they want to confiscate the PFD from those children and hand it to fat cat administrators in NEA.
Thank you Senator Cronk for the alert. Home schooling is far superior in most all ways to today’s typical brick and mortar education. Add also most often free of all the awful cultural dysfunction. We homeschooled k-12. We graduated our last student from high school in 2014. Both are college graduates who excelled through college and one has completed a masters. The academic advisor of our youngest, at a state university, sought me out at graduation and praised our homeschooling so well preparing our student for college success. The support and amazing curriculum available to home schooling families is mind boggling and any committed family can do it. The NEA is disgustingly about power and control and NOT education. I would recommend to any educator to not join this organization if they can avoid it. An excellent read —- NEA : Trojan Horse in American Education by Samuel Blumenfeld.
In Alaska, tax-funded government correspondence schooling at home are not homeschooling. It is tax-funded and must be highly regulated by the State. Further, you might lose your neighbors’ tax dollars at any time by a change in law.
Homeschooling is parent-directed home-based privately funded education. It is free of one’s neighbor’s tax dollars and free from government control. It is wonderful and all the positive results you are discussing here are from homeschooling, not from government school at home.
I don’t think you know whereof you speak.
If I, as a property owner, must pay taxes that fund the education of Alaska’s children, why should my children not benefit from that as well?
Do you know how difficult it is for middle class and lower income families right now, or how poorly the schools are doing? Tell me exactly why hard-working parents who are making the sacrifices and effort to give their kids the best education they can should not have a share and should have to work extra hard tracking down inter-library loan books and programs so they don’t have to spend hundreds out of pocket on curricula, or why they should be limited to the mediocre, often politicized, and often educationally inappropriate materials selected by “educators” who are often evaluating curricula based on their experience with large classes and average intelligences. My 14-yo homeschooled nephew is doing college calculus and studying Chinese. But I’m sure you’re right, it would be better if Loki Tobin got a say in how his education is structured and held him back.
Local parents here in the Valley are infuriated by the low standards set for their children in public schools. I saw a mom a while ago totally frustrated because the school kept passing her student along without her mastering material. She would score 35% on tests and homework and that was “acceptable.” Acceptable for the schools, that is—never the students.
Funny thing is that homeschool students are actually floating failing school districts. The school districts pay far less per homeschool student than an in-person student. So in essence, homeschool kids are subsidizing in-person learning.
Yes, but districts also receive considerably less for each homeschool student, and the portion the districts keep also has to pay for the homeschool program overhead and staff.
What would be interesting data to me, however, is how much the homeschooled-up-until-high-school students boost the overall school test scores. We’ve all read the recently bandied-about claim that homeschool programs have a much lower graduation rate than public brick and mortar schools, with its corresponding implication that homeschool programs are therefore a failure.
This homeschool mom did exactly that — so many do, as subject matter becomes more specialized.
It will be interesting to see how Senator Hunt from Wasilla votes on this. It will reveal his true color. Red or Blue.
We too homeschooled our 5 children, K-12. All went to colleges from UAF to Hillsdale, and the US Naval Academy. They all wanted to join their friends at public school. We allowed that, and without fail they all wanted out midway through the first term. We made them stay and finish the year they started; teaching “stick-to-it-iveness, if you will. God blesses them, they are all doing great facing life and it’s challenges. Public schools, as they are? We don’t need them.
Fellow Hillsdale Charger here—Virtus Tentamine Gaudet!
Mike — thanks for the insight and your thoughtful direction. Glad to see you’re looking out for the kids and parents.
The efforts of the NEA and AFT to push their tentacles further and further into the lives of homeschoolers in order to put a chokehold on students and parents and control their educational lives will never end. They never do this in bold, big moves. Neither do they do it during the light of day where everyone can see what it is they do. Their work is done behind the scenes and in the dark and in small steps. Always advancing. Always pushing for more control over other peoples’ children. Do not let them have one more inch of ground. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
We love you up here in the villages, Senator Cronk. The Amazon witch that you defeated last November spread lies and bad information about you. She is no longer welcome in our village. Banishment.
This is absolutely asinine. I have many family members who were home schooled and every single one of them are hugely productive members of society. So to say they somehow don’t get a quality education is insane. Time for parent and grandparents alike to stand up and speak out. They are also continuing to increase funding year after year. WTH we are the highest allocated schools in the world and have the worst educated kids! Lets go back to the little red school house and ass whoopins! We have handed over our children to the lunatic liberal regime and its time we get back to a common sense society! We may have won the battle, but now it’s time to win the war! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Just another reason to leave this state. High cost of living, high taxes and now taking parental control away from parents not to mention lack of good education
Great essay, Mike. Get your frustration 100%.
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Two potholes we respectfully point out: This most certainly is about “us” vs. “them” with regards to everything. It is all about win/lose. What does winning for all students mean if any part of the evil wrought by Alaska’s education industry is allowed to continue?
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Chanelling our inner “it takes a village” Hillary, are we? No, every student in Alaska is not “ours”. Every student is someone’s child who deserves a chance at a decent classical education, which is bloody well not what “our” students are getting despite how much money we plaster over this fault line.
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What might be helpful to see, Mike, is a resolution saying homeschooling -will- continue, funded as necessary, with or without the mob who currently infest Alaska’s education industry.
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…for starters.
“The Association also believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in the public schools.”
This makes perfect sense after our experience. Finding out a completely homeschooled student can not participate in sports in this state. My high school senior found that out and unfortunately missed his final year of cross country after moving here. Unless he were enrolled in some sort of government school option he was ineligible.
The law on this is terrible, more restrictive than even a supposedly difficult to homeschool state of PA. There they had sense on this issue and if he was a decent and respectful athlete like any other student had to be and followed all code of conduct and other policies they were excited to include more students and have his talent on the team.
I don’t want the state money (and attached strings), but a reasonable amount of a coach/athletic director/principal discretion. In our case they had gotten to know him and were disappointed their hands were tied.
Thank you for connecting this neatly back to the NEA.
That is not true. My son is homeschooled and he absolutely can go to our local school to play- shoot he can even do electives or classes I’ve selected to do there. Stop lying to people.
Not unless he is enrolled in a Cognia accredited program. A charter school, a public school at home (IDEA), PACE, anything where you get an allotment, etc or doing classes at the public school as you stated. That is being enrolled in some type of government school option at some level.
If one does not do that they can not participate, you can read the law.
Kat, it also depends on the local animus against or for homeschooled students. When extracurriculars theoretically became available to homeschoolers in my community in the early ‘00s, moms called up the school to enroll their kids in drama/debate/track/whatever. The principal of the school was known for calling them back and screaming at them on the phone (his favorite line was that they were “hurting the other children of this town” by apparently re-directing a few thou away from the teacher/facility budgets or whatever).
So glad Mike Cronk was elected as state senator. He actually works for the people of his district.
The lawyer he beat last year, Savannah Fletcher, is just another new arrival, carpet bagger to the Fairbanks area. And it looks like she’s left a trail of ethics messes in her former Borough Assembly position. Aren’t lawyers supposed to at least demonstrate some true ethical conduct when they are in office? Thank you, Senator Cronk, for giving this small woman a political whipping.
Good comment, Patriot. Doesn’t the Alaska Bar Association punish and discipline unethical lawyers like Savannah Fletcher?
What goes around, comes around. She’ll get hers.
Sen. Cronk is confusing many issues here. The tax-funded correspondence are not homeschooling. They are tax-funded schooling-at-home programs that are controlled by the civil government. They are tax-funded and therefore should be highly controlled for accountability to the taxpayers, the citizens.
If a bill reduces funding to state-run correspondence schooling or tax-funded schooling at home, that does not hurt homeschooling. It just reduces monies going to a government education welfare program.
Homeschooling, on the other hand, is parent-directed home-based privately funded education. These people are free and independent of taxpayer dollars and government control.
Be clear and be accurate. Changes to tax-funding of state correspondence programs do not “threaten homeschooling.” You take tax dollars, you are controlled by the state and your funding from your neighbors’ pocket might change at any time.
There is a very clear misunderstanding in AK about this, homeschooling as a complete independent family vs being involved in some type of government school at home.
School choice is available in many districts. What is confounding to me is your lack in explanation of what choice means. It goes against our constitution when paying for private and religious schools. No public funds should pay for your version of school choice- they are NOT required to accept all students (they can turn away based on whatever they want) and they are not required to take special education students or children with behavioral concerns. So you underfund public education to help pay for school in private or religious spots to give a financial break to those that already would likely be there. This isn’t about “our” kids at all. This is about defunding public education. Terrible. Mr Cronk your area- being so rural- online and other programs exist. Stop trying to take from responsibility of funding education properly in our state.
As they have nationally, we need to do that in this state. Which is grab Alaska back from the democrats. They are ruining our state from with in… Its time we as a state get control of OUR government or loose the state completely. If you haven’t noticed Anchorage is in disarray and they are dragging us down with it… Get off of your buts and vote them out…
I, and two of my sisters were recipients of a Territorial decision to provide a very comprehensive home school correspondence course in the mid 1950s. We lived in a remote area and could not get to public school. Yes there are downsides, and it requires a great deal of commitment from parents. Our parents were well read and able to commit time to our general education. When we eventually moved to where we could attend public school, we were well within the grade levels required. What ever happened to the State commitment to All of their students? I am sorry for all the affected families. Those are your children and you should consider how your choices will affect them. Do not undersell your, or their abilities. Best of luck.
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