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Beauty pageant jumps the shark: Miss Maryland is a ‘he’ and Miss Alabama is 3X

Suzanne Downing
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Beauty pageant jumps the shark: Miss Maryland is a ‘he’ and Miss Alabama is 3X

The Miss USA pageant, owned by the Miss Universe organization, has some big firsts this year. The winner of the Miss Maryland crown this week is a transgender — a man living his identity as a woman.

In the Miss National American Alabama pageant, the winner is so large, she would need at least two airline seats and a couple of seatbelt extenders.

Sarah Milliken, the supersized Miss Alabama, has suffered a lot of cyberbullying due to her enormous size, which sets her apart from other contestants in beauty pageants. The internet has been especially cruel since she won the title.

Bailey Anne Kennedy is the first transgender man to be crowned Miss Maryland USA. At 31, he is older than the average pageant queen and identifies as a “military wife.” She competed for Miss Maryland as Miss Williamsport (Md) USA.

As of 2023, women who are or have been married, as well as women who are pregnant or have children, are able to compete in the Miss Universe pageants at all levels. Competitors must represent that they are a female, as recognized medically and legally in the United States.)

The Miss Universe organization had its first transgender contestant, Miss Spain Ángela Ponce, in 2018. The owner of the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA is a transgender entrepreneur from Thailand who bought the pageant in 2022.

Miss Alaska USA 2024 is Fairbanks’ Brenna Schaake, who was crowned on June 1 and will represent Alaska at the Miss USA 2024 pageant in Hollywood, California the week of Aug. 4. Brenna has worked as an external affairs supervisor for Kinross Gold Corporation for three years, and is a member of the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce.

Never say die: Congressional Republicans battle Biden to keep girls’ rights from being destroyed

Suzanne Downing
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Never say die: Congressional Republicans battle Biden to keep girls’ rights from being destroyed

U.S. House Republicans, led by Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, are fighting President Joe Biden and his rule interpretation that allows sex discrimination in schools. Biden is ruling that boys and men may use girls’ private toilet and changing facilities and may compete as girls and women in public schools.

Rep. Miller and led 67 of her House Republican colleagues with new legislation that would reverse the Biden administration’s Title IX rule interpretation.

Representative Miller released the following statement:

“Joe Biden is undermining years of progress women have made in securing their rights under Title IX. For more than half a century, Title IX has protected women and girls, ensuring they have equal opportunities in education. However, the Biden Administration is putting our girls at risk by allowing men to access women and girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. This divergence is a blatant violation of the protections Title IX was meant to guarantee, and it undermines the very foundation of women’s rights and security in their private spaces.”

Supporting this effort are congressional women leaders, including Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, and Rep. Elise Stefanie of New York.

“The Biden administration’s final rule hacks Title IX into pieces and expunges decades of progress for women and girls across the nation. This is a clear and present threat, and one that cannot go unaddressed. Vice Chair Miller’s resolution under the Congressional Review Act to stamp out the Biden administration’s radical Title IX rule is a much-needed prescription to safeguard opportunities for women and girls – and I am proud to support it,” said Foxx, who is the Education and the Workforce Committee chairwoman.

“I’m proud to support Representative Mary Miller’s legislation to block the Biden Administration’s radical efforts to roll back women’s rights and undo President Trump’s policies that ensure every American receives due process under the law,” Stefanik said.

“Joe Biden’s DOE does not get to decide what being a girl or woman means,” said Congresswoman Luna. “As society drifts into the chaos of postmodernism, it is crucial that we, as legislators, stay firm and protect the rights of young women across America. They deserve to feel safe in their schools and confident in their sports. We must stand up for our values and ensure that every young woman has the opportunity to thrive in a safe environment.”

Republicans have filed similar legislation in the past, but while they passed the House, they died in the Democrat-controlled Senate. In 2023, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passed the House, with Alaska’s Rep. Mary Peltola voting against it.

House passes bill to protect females from transgenders in sports – but Peltola aligns with Dems as a no vote

In the Alaska Legislature, Democrats also fought for the rights of boys to beat girls in sports and to use their changing facilities and bathrooms. The bill offered by Rep. Jamie Allard, House Bill 183, finally passed the House during the waning days of the 2024 session, but died in the Alaska Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

Protection of girls in sports scrimmaged in House, as Democrats fight for boys’ right to beat girl athletes

Fairbanks School Board adds race-based position, as Mat-Su School Board ends youth advisory position

Suzanne Downing
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Fairbanks School Board adds race-based position, as Mat-Su School Board ends youth advisory position

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School Board has voted to add an advisory position to the board — the person chosen must be a member of the Fairbanks Native Association, which makes it a race-based decision that may be a violation of civil rights and subject to legal challenge. It was a unanimous vote.

Alaska Native students or those with mixed heritage are said to make up about one-fifth of the student population in Fairbanks Public Schools. The board said this is about “equity.”

The board wrote, “in its commitment to providing an excellent and equitable education for all students, unanimously approved a policy change on Tuesday, June 4, to include an appointment of an advisory board member from the Fairbanks Native Association (FNA). The FNA member shall provide input and advise the School Board on all matters that come before the Board, including sharing their unique perspective on how matters under consideration might affect the Alaska Native community and all district students.”

“Over the past few weeks, the Board has received considerable public testimony and numerous emails, all overwhelmingly supporting this policy change,” said Brandy Harty, the Fairbanks School Board president. “We are excited to welcome our first FNA advisory member to the dais this fall when the Board resumes its regular meetings. The Board remains resolute in its commitment to partnering with families and the community to provide all students with an excellent education in a safe, supportive environment. This is best accomplished through listening to diverse voices and perspectives as a vital part of the Board’s deliberative process.”

The matter has been debated for several weeks, with concerns expressed, but also support from the public who attended the meetings leading up to the unanimous vote on Tuesday.

The advisory vote from the FNA will be cast prior to the official school board vote and will not be tallied as pat of the official vote but will be recorded in the board minutes

While Fairbanks leans into race politics, the Matanuska-Susitna School Board has eliminated the youth advisor position on its board.

The MatSu board decision is also about diversity — diversity of perspective. The board intends to allow a more diverse range of student voices to be heard at the school board, rather than just one point of view.

The current trend in public schools has been toward student radicalization, a reflection of what has been seen in campuses around the country, often egged on by teachers.

In the fall, high school students in the MatSu staged a walk out in protest of the board planning to remove the student advisory position.

In April, the Alaska Association of Student Governments called for a walkout at Alaska public schools in protest of the veto of SB 140, a massive spending bill that would have given school districts an unprecedented and permanent increase in their funding without any accountability for how the public money is spent.

Students to stage walkout over SB 140 veto

Fritz Pettyjohn: Let the good times roll — again

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Fritz Pettyjohn: Let the good times roll — again

By FRITZ PETTYJOHN

When I got to Alaska in 1969, the smell of money was in the air. Prudhoe Bay’s oil had just been discovered.  People didn’t know how big it was, but everyone thought it would be big, really big.  A poor Democratic state was going to get rich, and Republican, and I wanted to be part of it.

By the time I hung out a shingle and started my law practice in 1974 the boom was on. In the blink of an eye, my wife and I had three kids and I got started in politics. In 1978 I worked on the reelection campaign of Gov. Jay Hammond, and his victory assured the future of the Permanent Fund.  

Hammond, a Republican, wanted some of the oil money in the Fund to go directly to he people, but most of the Democrats in Juneau were opposed. He strong-armed the Legislature into approving a dividend, and the first $1,000 checks went out in 1982.

Democrats didn’t like the dividend then, and they still don’t.  They are the party of, by, and for government. They want the government to spend the money, not the people.

Most Alaskans like their PFD’s, and that’s one reason 2024 is going to be a good year for Republicans. There are others. This is a presidential election year, and voter turnout could be 100,000 higher than in 2022. Among those Alaskans who only turn out in presidential years are a whole lot of people who know that Republican presidents are good for Alaska’s economy, and Democrats are not.

Alaska’s economy is stagnant, and people think the boom times of 50 years ago are just a memory.  We’ll never see them again. Or will we?

Regardless of what you may think of him as a human being, Donald Trump would be good for Alaska. Trump doesn’t believe in distributing wealth, he believes in creating it. He doesn’t want energy independence, he wants energy dominance. That means full speed ahead on development of Alaska’s vast natural resource wealth. If Trump wins, and gets his way, Alaska’s economy, and its people, could get rich again. There’s talk of Gov. Mike Dunleavy as Trump’s Secretary of the Interior, and that would be icing on the cake. This just might be a very good time to invest in Alaska real estate.

One of the first things I learned about politics is that people vote in their own self interest: “What’s good for me, and my family?”This year, more than any other, in Alaska that means voting Republican.

So to all the Republicans running this year I have a little advice: Campaign with Trump, as a solid Republican, with the hope, and expectation, of boom times ahead.

Let the good times roll.

Fritz Pettyjohn served in the Alaska Legislature in the 1980s and writes the blog ReaganProject.com.

Fritz Pettyjohn: 40 years of judicial activism on the Alaska Supreme Court, but Dunleavy can just say ‘no’
Fritz Pettyjohn: The politics of abortion in 2022

On target: Resolution introduced to overturn Biden ban on small business exports of arms, ammo, parts

Suzanne Downing
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On target: Resolution introduced to overturn Biden ban on small business exports of arms, ammo, parts

Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee and 80 fellow members of the House introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a Biden Administration rule on firearm exports.

The Biden rule is a complicated set of regulations that impacts thousands of small businesses in America. Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty leads the effort in the Senate, which has 33 co-sponsors.

The resolution to deny the Administration’s attack on small businesses comes after the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security enacted a 90-day pause on licensing firearms and ammunition exports, a pause that lasted more than 200 days.

Back in October, B.I.S. locked down new export licenses involving certain firearms, ammunition, and related components, and it ended the export approvals for non-governmental end buyers in some countries where the Administration thinks crime is too high or where firearms sometimes end up in the hands of criminals. This meant the government can now sell arms to other governments, but firearms makers cannot sell their wares to private citizens in other countries.

During the lockdown, the Department has been crafting changes in the Export Administration Regulations it says will advance national security and U.S. foreign policy interests.

While Americans buy a significant number of their personal firearms from companies that make them overseas, the new regulations make it nearly impossible for small gunmakers to engage in legal commerce and sell their wares to legitimate overseas buyers. This ends up hurting their ability to hire and train workers, and be profitable in their chosen line of work.

The final rule is at this link and is in its 90-day comment period that ends July 1.

The new rule has an extensive checklist for evaluating all licenses, including the nature of end user, the destination of exports (foreign policy/national security risk factors), nature of item being exported, human rights considerations, and instances of past diversion.

Some of the decisions about whether an export license may be granted will be based on reports from non-governmental organizations, many of which are political in nature. They include:

  •   State Department Human Rights Country Reports
  •   Global Terrorism Index
  •   Corruption Perceptions Index
  •   Government Defence Integrity Index
  •   Amnesty International Reports
  •   Human Rights Watch Report
  •   Fragile State Index
  •   Global Organized Crime Index
  •   Small Arms Light Weapons Tracker
  •   U.N. Global Study on Firearms Trafficking
  •   Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries (Majors List)

The countries currently include: Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Vietnam, and Yemen.

“The Biden administration is out of control. It’s clear President Biden has ordered the Commerce Department to attack small businesses and firearm exporters. This is completely contradictory to the Department’s statutory duty ‘to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities.’ Congress has the power and the duty to hold the Biden administration accountable for its egregious attacks against gun owners and American businesses. This Congressional Review Act will put a stop to BIS’ overreaching rule,” Green said.

Licenses, which were previously good for four years, are now approved yearly and on a case-by-case basis, which leaves manufacturers at the mercy of anti-gun bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., Green noted.

“Left unchecked, the Biden administration will go after thousands of other responsible, law-abiding businesses across the country. Congress is fully within its Constitutional purview to overturn the Biden administration’s interim final rule. The time for action is now,” Green said.

“In effect, this is an attempt to permanently extend the current “pause” on such export licenses and will rescind approximately 2,000 active export licenses for certain firearms. In addition to being an unlawful, unjustified exercise of regulatory authority, this will have a substantial, negative impact on these American manufacturers, their suppliers, and the jobs they support,” Hagerty said.

“This rule by the Biden Administration damages the firearm industry, which harms Tennessee manufacturers,” Hagerty said. “This politically motivated effort unlawfully circumvents the legislative process and destroys American exports, jobs, and small businesses that support the firearm and ammunition industry. I’m pleased to introduce this CRA to overturn the Biden Administration’s version of Operation Choke Point.” Operation Choke Point was an initiative of the Obama Administration to investigate banks that lent to firearms makers. Gun and ammunition dealers that were operating legally found their bank accounts were terminated without explanation.

House Cosponsors: Michael McCaul (R-TX), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Michael Guest (R-MS), Roger Williams (R-TX), Sam Graves (R-MO), Mike Bost (R-IL), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), David Kustoff (R-TN), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Bob Good (R-VA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Chip Roy (R-TX), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Ben Cline (R-VA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Andy Harris (R-MD), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Greg Murphy (R-NC), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Blake Moore (R-UT), Bill Posey (R-FL), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Russell Fry (R-SC), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Pete Sessions (R-TX), William Timmons (R-SC), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Randy Weber (R-TX), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Carol Miller (R-WV), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Chuck Edwards (R-NC), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Greg Steube (R-FL), Cory Mills (R-FL), Pat Fallon (R-TX), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Mike Ezell (R-MS), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), John Rutherford (R-FL), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Keith Self (R-TX), Andy Barr (R-KY), Jerry Carl (R-AL), James Baird (R-IN), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Brian Babin (R-TX), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Scott Perry (R-PA), Joe Wilson (R-SC)

Senate Cosponsors: John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steven Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Roger Wicker (R-MS) 

D-Day: Three brothers, three fates in World War II

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
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D-Day: Three brothers, three fates in World War II

By SCOTT MCMURREN | ALASKA TRAVELGRAM

Each year, I turn the volume down in my life just a bit as we approach June 6, D-Day.

This year, it will have been 80 years since the largest seaborne invasion in history took place. Thousands died—and countless others were indelibly changed by the experience.

Here’s a brief story of how my family was affected on this day: The A. M. Smith family of Reno, Nevada, and a tale of three sons on one fateful day.

Alfred “Long Tom” Smith and his wife, Ivan, had four children: three boys and a girl.

“Long Tom” was a miner in Nevada and eventually became state engineer. On D-Day, the couple’s three sons were already commissioned officers in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Their eldest son, Dale Smith, graduated the U.S. Military Academy in the class of 1934. He was fascinated with airplanes. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps and by 1943, he was a bomb group leader with the 384th Bomb Group (8th AF).

Most of his combat missions were over Germany, but in early June, he led bombing missions over France in support of Operation Overlord.

[Read Maj. Gen. Dale Smith’s biography here]

As commander of the 384th, Dale was a decorated flyer, with 31 combat missions (Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with three clusters, and the Croix de Guerre with palm).

Dale went on to  serve in leadership positions in Okinawa, as head of the 64th Air Divison and later as a strategic adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  He retired as a major general in 1964, 20 years after D-Day.

The second son, Thor Smith, was my grandfather. He was a newspaperman in the William Randolph Hearst organization. At the bidding of his brother, he applied for and was granted a commission in the Army Air Corps.

Thor rose quickly through the ranks until he was a press officer for Gen. Eisenhower at SHAEF headquarters in England at the time of the invasion. Thor accompanied Eisenhower to Paris and later to Germany during the liberation of the concentration camps.

After leaving the military with the rank of colonel, Thor returned to the Hearst organization. He was assistant to the publisher at the San Francisco Call-Bulletin.

Gen. “Ike” Eisenhower was Thor’s hero. In fact, my mother tells the story of when Ike was invited over to their house for dinner. She and my grandmother worked all day on dinner. When the doorbell rang, she went to answer…then fainted. They put her to bed and she missed dinner.

While his two brothers were on the scene for the invasion, Drew Smith graduated with the rest of his class at U.S. Military Academy at West Point on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Ike’s son, David, was his classmate.

Drew was anxious to fly and soon was checked out to fly the B-29s in Guam. Tragically, as he took off on June 11, 1946, his plane developed engine trouble. The B-29, fully-loaded wtih fuel, crashed into the ocean, killing all aboard.

As D-Day was a pivotal day in Western Civilization, it also affected families like ours at a very basic level. Mine is just one story—and I am proud to share it.

Scott McMurren is author and publisher at AlaskaTravelGram.com.  This column originally appeared in Must Read Alaska on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, and has been edited to reflect the 80th anniversary.

Do you have a story about D-Day and your family? Share it in the comment section below.

Biden threatens veto of veterans funding as he launches culture war over LGBTQI+ and taxpayer-funded abortion

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Biden threatens veto of veterans funding as he launches culture war over LGBTQI+ and taxpayer-funded abortion

By CASEY HARPER | THE CENTER SQUARE

U.S. House Republicans passed legislation Wednesday to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction, but a battle over abortion, sexuality and other issues may sink the bill.

The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 features $378.644 billion in spending. 

That funding includes $147.520 billion for the Department of Defense’s military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and “related agencies.”  

Wednesday’s legislation is one of 12 appropriations bills needed to fund the government, and was passed largely along party lines.

“I voted YES on the FY25 Military Construction and VA funding bill,” U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It fully funds programs for our nation’s veterans, bolsters our Indo-Pacific security, and defunds woke policies.”

“This morning, I voted in favor of the 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,” Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., wrote on X. “This legislation fully funds veterans benefits, bolsters national security, and ends Biden’s mission to make our bases woke.”

President Joe Biden, however, has threatened to veto the bill because of provisions meant to take on “woke policies.”

The White House released a statement ahead of the vote saying the president will veto the bill if it makes it to his desk.

“Similar to last year, H.R. 8580 includes numerous, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the Administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the White House said in a statement.

Besides LGBT issues, the White House opposes the legislation’s limits on the use of taxpayer funds for abortions.

“The Administration strongly opposes section 255 of the bill, which would prevent VA from using funds to implement, administer, or otherwise carry out the Final Rule published on March 4, 2024, which expanded access to abortion counseling and abortion under limited circumstances for certain veterans and VA beneficiaries,” the White House said in a statement.

Murkowski declares birth control a ‘right’

Suzanne Downing
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Murkowski declares birth control a ‘right’

Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of the Right to Contraception Act, which failed to advance in the Senate on Wednesday. It needed 60 votes to end a filibuster and move forward, and it had just 51 votes, with Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine siding, as is their way, with the Democrats.

Murkowski then produced a video in which she declared, “a woman has a right to contraception.”

Is contraception a right under the U.S. Constitution? It’s a novel interpretation. Even food and shelter is not a guaranteed right, like the right to pursue happiness, as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, and the right to free speech, to keep firearms, privacy and to not have to house soldiers in your home.

The government doesn’t buy people firearms, even though the right to bear arms is mentioned in the Constitution.

But the Democrats, Murkowski, and Collins believe that there is a right to either a contraption-type contraception, such as IUDs or condoms, or chemical contraception, such as birth control pills; neither were safely available during the time the nation was founded. The authors of the Constitution in 1787 would never have imagined such a right developing 237 years later.

Murkowski then said in her video that the way to reduce the number of abortions is to make contraception a right, and explained that this is a position she has had “for a very long time.”

Sen. Dick Durbin agreed it’s a right.

“It would codify the right to contraception that the Supreme Court first recognized in Griswold. It would also allow patients, providers, and the Justice Department to go to court to enforce these rights,” Durbin said.

He was saying the quiet part out loud: Taxpayers would be required to pay for birth control for all women and, presumably, men. Free condoms and vasectomies for all?

A few days earlier Murkowski said women have a right to abortion, which she sanitized as “access to reproductive health care.” She said women in Alaska are worried about access to reproductive, even though the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court leaves abortion laws up to the states and the State of Alaska has one of the most liberal abortion legal interpretations in the country.

Rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution do not include things like the right to shoes, lava lamps, gym memberships, or even health care itself. Obamacare expanded and warped that constitutional understanding and made health care institutionalized as a right, which means taxpayers now have to pay for things like transgender surgeries and after-surgery care, and all other manner of health care, which has become an ever-expanding field.

This is the Democrat theme consistently voiced since the days of slavery — that people have a right to the fruits of the labor of another person.

In this case, if birth control pills are a right, then they must be provided free by force of law to everyone who wants them, and they must be paid for by everyone who doesn’t want to pay for them.

Those who get behind on their taxes to the government that provides these “rights” at a cost to someone else may find their wages garnished and their homes foreclosed on, because while things like birth control is a “right,” your income and your home are still not a right.

Major improvement: Data shows Alaska’s youngest students advancing after Alaska Reads Act passed

Suzanne Downing
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Major improvement: Data shows Alaska’s youngest students advancing after Alaska Reads Act passed

Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced today that the data demonstrates that Alaska’s youngest students are experiencing significant advances in early literacy as a result of the Alaska Reads Act.

The landmark legislation, co-sponsored by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and former Senator Tom Begich, was crafted to ensure all students can read at grade level by third grade and is reshaping Alaska’s education landscape, his office said.

The Alaska Reads Act employs evidence-based reading strategies, including professional development in the Science of Reading, and introduces new curricula and targeted interventions. This comprehensive approach led to significant gains in reading proficiency among kindergarten through third-grade students statewide.

Alaska is currently in the second year of implementing the Alaska Reads Act. The recently concluded school year is the first year of the law’s accountability requirements. 

At the start of this academic year, only 41% of students met early literacy benchmarks. By the school year’s end, the percentage of students meeting benchmarks rose to 57%.

Among kindergarten students, proficiency rates rose from 24% at the beginning of the year to 60% by the end of the year.

The State Board of Education selected Amplify to provide districts the early literacy screener required by the Alaska Reads Act. According to Amplify, “Alaska’s first year of statewide implementation of the mCLASS 8th Edition assessment has yielded improvements in student performance that surpass those observed in the rest of our national user base, which includes over two million students across schools in America.”

“I’m encouraged by the improvements Alaska’s students are already experiencing because of the Alaska Reads Act,” Dunleavy said. “As these results are beginning to show, when we implement effective education reform, Alaska’s students are capable of success.”

“The remarkable progress we’ve seen, especially among our youngest learners is a testament to the collective effort of Alaskans across the state,” said DEED Commissioner Deena Bishop. “These results not only highlight the effectiveness of the Alaska Reads Act, but also sets a promising trajectory for the educational future of Alaska.”

State Board of Education Chairman James Fields extended heartfelt gratitude to the educators, parents, and students for their dedication and hard work.

“This progress is a testament to the commitment and resilience of our teachers, students, and their families,” Fields said. “Together, we are making strides toward a future where every Alaskan child possesses the fundamental skills to succeed. Thank you for your relentless pursuit of educational excellence.”

For further details on the Alaska Reads Act first-annual report, visit The Alaska Reads Act – Education and Early Development.

Bob Griffin: Alaska Reads Act is up for the challenge shown by national reading assessment scores
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