By DAVID BOYLE

Alaska school boards were invited to provide testimony to the House Education Committee on the status of their schools this week. All of them testified on the need for more money; little was said about the need to improve students’ scores, or how increased funding would help with that.  

The Alaska School Boards Association also provided testimony focused on more funding, support for the defined benefit retirement program for teachers, and a more equitable broadband network.

The ASBA belongs to the National School Boards Association, which last year accused parents of “domestic terrorism and hate crimes” in a harsh letter to the Department of Justice. The NSBA letter was coordinated with the U.S. Department of Education.

On Oct. 18, 2021, Anchorage School Board member Dave Donley attempted to get a resolution passed by the Governance Committee that said, “The Anchorage School Board condemns in the strongest terms: The actions of the National School Boards Association in sending their September 29, 2021, letter to the Attorney General.”

School Board President Margo Bellamy participated in that discussion as an ex-officio member of the Governance Committee.  The resolution went nowhere.  

Bellamy is also on the Alaska School Board Association board. Bellamy testified on the need for a more equitable broadband. She stated that broadband is an “equity” issue. She credited the Covid pandemic with bringing “significant broadband inequities to the forefront.”

Bellamy regularly uses the word “equity” to push the principles of Critical Race Theory in the ASD.  

Bellamy stated the need for a diverse workforce, saying, “Students do better when they see someone who looks like them,” referring to teachers. She stated the district is working with University of Alaska Anchorage to grow teachers, even though the UAA Education Program lost its accreditation in 2019.

Bellamy strongly supported bringing back the defined benefit retirement program: “We used to sell this state on Alaska’s adventure and retirement.  Now we cannot do that.”  She further stated, “We need teachers to retire with dignity.”

There was no mention of improving the curriculum or improving student achievement in math and reading from any of the testifiers.

ASBA President Pete Hoepner testified that if the State funded more mental health resources, student achievement would increase. There were no data presented to defend this statement. This statement comes after the districts shut down their schools, severely impacting students’ mental health; depression, anxiety, loneliness, and even attempted suicides have resulted. Now they want money for a problem they caused.  

Hoepner said literacy is a fundamental human right and he supports efforts to ensure Alaska children read by 3^rd grade. But he also wants universal Pre-K, insisting that is the missing link to improving literacy, when the national data do not support that. Another school board representative testified that teachers are not even taught how to teach reading. 

All the speakers testified for legislation that would spend more money on K-12 education. This included HB350 which would require the state to begin reimbursing new school construction costs effective July 1, 2022. The reimbursement rate would also increase from the current 50% to 70%.

All the testifiers see the state winning the Powerball lottery with higher oil revenues, and they want a piece of the winnings. Unfortunately, no one mentioned improving student outcomes or accountability. They were all lining up at the trough, yearning for more oil money with no strings attached that would improve student  achievement.

The leftist Anchorage Assembly has made its choice for the 12th Assembly seat.

Daniel Volland has rarely been seen at a meeting of the Anchorage Assembly. But on Wednesday evening he showed up in the audience and was invited to lead the room in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Volland, an optometrist, only stayed at the meeting for three minutes after the Pledge, and then scurried out.

The meeting was called in part for the purpose of setting the election date for the new 12th seat for the Assembly, which will be another liberal seat for downtown Anchorage.

Volland has been running for that seat since December. Volland was also voted in recently as the vice chairman of the South Addition Community Council, where sone questionable attendees were voting.

The date for the special election will be June 7, the Assembly decided on Wednesday. Only members of that downtown district will be voting, and it’s more than clear who the Assembly intends to take a seat on the dais: Volland. Assembly Vice Chairman Chris Constant, who serves the other downtown seat, has already donated to Volland’s campaign, according to state campaign records.

The now-retired editor of the Anchorage Daily News has requested all the emails of Assemblywoman Jamie Allard that contain the key words or that are addressed to Must Read Alaska, Must Read Alaska Publisher Suzanne Downing, MRAK, Save Anchorage or SA, Reclaim Midtown, and citizen activists Russell Biggs, leftist activist Chelsea Foster, and Anchorage Library Deputy Director and Republican activist Judy Eledge.

Pat Dougherty, who was forcibly retired by the Anchorage Daily News in 2014, is now a leftwing activist in the Rabbit Creek area of Anchorage. He spends his days peppering social media with foul-mouthed leftist political commentary. We have the receipts:

Dougherty is looking for something in those requested emails between Nov. 1, 2020 and Nov. 15 of 2021. Must Read Alaska has learned there are over 653 emails in the batch of emails that the Assembly Clerk is giving to Dougherty, apparently at no charge. His addition of Chelsea Foster on his list of requested emails is a mystery — she is the person who tried to get Allard recalled, and who failed.

In an indication that there is a witch-hunt under way in coordination with Dougherty, the Anchorage Assembly Nine’s outside attorney, Bill Falsey, has been working far beyond the scope of the original contract he was hired for by the Assembly, which was to legally advise on separation of powers issues between the mayor and the Assembly. Now, he is working on an item called “member discipline” that appears to involve Allard. Member discipline could mean Falsey is looking for something that would embarrass Allard and allow the Assembly Nine to draft a resolution to sanction her or censure her.

He billed for that “member discipline” item back in November of 2021, and was paid. In short, the Assembly Nine has paid an outside lawyer to attack one of the minority members of the Assembly.

Falsey has also recently worked on issues where the Assembly Nine — Chair Suzanne LaFrance, Vice Chair Chris Constant, Pete Petersen, Austin Quinn-Davidson, Forrest Dunbar, John Weddleton, Felix Rivera, Meg Zaletel, and Kameron Perez-Verdia — are attacking Mayor Dave Bronson for various issues, as well as budget and other items. Falsey has, since the Assembly granted him the waiver he requested after having left municipal service, become a personal attorney for the Assembly Nine.

Read: The Tom Sconce Scandal: Assembly covers up hundreds of pages of secret emails to a nonexistent Mr. Sconce

The Anchorage Assembly Nine authorized up to $150,000 for Falsey, who most recently was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor, after serving as city manager for Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.

Most of what Falsey is now billing the taxpayers for is far outside the scope of his approved contract but all his billings have been approved for payment. The city already has 44 attorneys and the Assembly has one attorney assigned to them, Dean Gates. Here are some of the recent invoices for Falsey: