By MICHAEL TAVOLIERO
In what appears to be yet another bait-and-switch ploy, Anchorage School Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt recently informed parents that the district is preoccupied with reviewing presidential directives on immigration, as if this were the most pressing issue facing our community.
Meanwhile, our students are drowning in an academic crisis manifested and managed by the Democratic Party and the public education unions who routinely siphon public education dollars away from the progress of children’s education.
The Anchorage School District is experiencing a catastrophic decline in performance: Only 35% of elementary and middle school students are testing proficient in reading, and math scores are even lower.
At the high school level, the situation is even more alarming. Just 26% of students are proficient in math, leaving nearly three-quarters of our youth unprepared for the demands of adulthood, as reported by USNEWS.com for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years.
While Dr. Bryantt proudly proclaims that every school is a “safe, welcoming, and supportive space for all students and families,” one cannot help but suspect that this is little more than a convenient smokescreen. It distracts from the district’s glaring failures: Anchorage school district students are not proficient in the core subjects of reading and math.
One must ask, what kind of future are we preparing for our children if we continue down this path?
How long will we allow bureaucratic inefficiency, spiraling budgets, and the corrupting influence of special interests to strangle the very institutions meant to nurture and empower our children?
Why is top-down management and administration the right of the state when the results are abysmal and not relegated to democratic legitimacy where parents, teachers and administrators are free to institute educational and operational improvements on the local level without the oppression of Leftist politicos and special interest?
As Thomas Sowell stated in Charter Schools and Their Enemies: “If we are serious about the education of children—and there are few things more important to be serious about—we need to pay far more attention to specific facts and far less attention to slippery words and phrases that obscure those facts.”
Inspirational rhetoric is hollow when it is not backed by meaningful, targeted action to address the stark inadequacies of our education system.
Yet, there is a counterpoint that must be considered. While immigration officials are being barred from stepping onto campuses—a move some interpret as a politically charged distraction—the district insists that its focus on safety is part of a broader strategy to create an environment where all students can thrive. This is a logical fallacy designed to insist that a secure and welcoming school environment is a necessary foundation for academic success. While I agree with this, it is a distraction from Dr Bryantt’s apparent incompetence.
While he contends that policies addressing immigration and campus safety are intended to protect our children from external threats, why does he not ensure that Anchorage schools are sanctuaries for learning, growth, and preparation for a productive future?
Why are we not asking, are we satisfied with such justifications? We must demand that we honor the federal and state funds earmarked for educating our children and condemn the use of these resources to advance the personal agendas of adults driven by special interests.
Anchorage taxpayers—whose hard-earned dollars contribute through what now appears as a misuse of our property taxes—deserve nothing less than complete accountability. It is unacceptable for public funds to be diverted to initiatives that serve the interests of lobbyists and political cronies rather than addressing the critical educational shortcomings that are documented by the data.
Ultimately, this debate is not merely about policy priorities—it is a crisis of values and leadership. The district must choose between continuing to invest in measures that do little to arrest the academic decline, or redirect its focus toward the pressing need to raise student proficiency and ensure that every dollar spent has a direct, positive impact on classroom outcomes.
The stakes are high. If we are to truly honor our commitments to the future of Anchorage’s children, then our actions must reflect the urgent need to improve academic performance and financial accountability. Our schools must be transformed into institutions that not only provide a safe space but also deliver a robust education—one that prepares every student for the challenges of tomorrow. Only by holding our elected officials and education administrators accountable can we reclaim the promise of our public education system and ensure that our children are not the unwitting victims of political subterfuge, fiscal mismanagement and rampant fraud.
While Dr. Bryantt distracts with misinformed politically charged issues, the reality remains: If policymakers choose to base decisions on ideological frameworks like “inclusion” or “diversity” rather than proven academic strategies, they must accept full responsibility for the declining student performance. With this responsibility, will the Anchorage public hold them accountable? Will the public replace them with performance results managers who focus on our children’s education and an improved future for all Alaskans?
In Anchorage’s public schools, unionized teachers are held accountable for credentials and seniority—not for the actual learning outcomes of their students. Dr Bryantt is the poster boy for this ridiculous attempt to provoke and justify civil disobedience. He cannot and must not be taken seriously.
Whether or not one supports linking teacher performance to rewards, separating these input metrics from real educational results sacrifices our children’s futures, favoring the entrenched self-interests of the education establishment, the selfishness of the public education union and the degradation of our children’s future over genuine academic success.
Michael Tavoliero writes for Must Read Alaska.
