PEAKS Test results for Districts L-Y: One is 98+ percent below proficiency in math

1. Looks like those ‘union’ school teachers are on the job, all right. Public employees, all of them. A compete disgrace and disservice to the Alaskans they are supposed to educate. When does the State wake up to this sham of ‘education’ and it’s ‘teachers’?

   • I encourage you to visit or volunteer at a few local school to see if your opinion is as valid as you believe it to be. When I come to work for an extra eight or twelve hours on the weekends, I see many other educators diligently working outside those contracted hours to give the best they can to their students. I see innovative and caring professionals. There are many contributing factors to a student’s education and assessment results. The system is far from perfect, I agree. The same could be said of many families / home situations. Rapid societal changes may be affecting how students learn. Individuals and sectors of communities may have left the proverbial table of public education stakeholders (which ideally would include everyone). There may be some educators who are under serving their learners, but it is far from the majority. Not every lesson I teach may be perfect, and I am always striving to improve and implement research-based “best practices”. Automatically equating poor scores on a single assessment with all educators being a “disgrace” seems disingenuous. Blaming it on this governor or that politician/administrator seems disingenuous. I hope that as I educate my students I can develop them to be critical thinkers who understand the nuances of complex issues and support their ideas/opinions with a depth and breadth of evidence. I’ll reiterate and say that if you want to make a direct, immediate, positive impact on the education of Alaska’s youth you should consider volunteering at a local school.

     • Amen to that!

       Come visit a school! Most principals would be happy to give you a tour. You’ll see amazing things happening that can’t be measured on a test.

2. And the education system wants tax payers to keep shoveling money at them with administrative costs off the charts for what dumber students? Time the buck stopped and administrators were “FIRED” and stripped of their pensions if an independent audit finds they are guilty of willful neglect. Time they are all Audited by outside independent auditors!!!

3. The union is a sham. Not the teachers.

4. What is Skagway doing right or different?

   • That’s what I would like to know. Obviously more than any other district. Wish our kids could move to Skagway!

   • Expectations by the parents of the district.

5. WELL NOW, it’s quite obvious that the State of AK is grossly underfunding the Dept of Education. And it’s quite apparent that in order to resolve this disaster, we need the Legislature to increase taxes on the ‘greedy’ Oil Companies so that we can get ‘Our Fair Share’ so as to continue shoveling endless amounts of dollars back into these failing schools, increasing the the pay for these underfunded Teachers, and hire more Administrators to help support these failing schools, and build bigger and more expansive schools to replace the aging and dilapidated schools. THEN, we also need Burkvitz to raise property taxes and sin taxes in Anchorage so that the great constituents can make their ‘Fair Contribution’ too.
   As one reviews this through a pragmatic lens, at what point does one realize that the real solution isn’t throwing more money at this problem but rather, personal accountability?

   • Actually, money can fix the problem of low test scores. Give the districts money to hire more teachers. Assign those teachers to work intensively with the students most at-risk of scoring low on the tests. Test scores will rise.

6. The Education Factory model isn’t working. Having 54 money sponge school districts isn’t working. Parents are voting with their feet and the districts are offering home school support programs. Graduating with a 10th-11th grade education isn’t working.

   Gov. Dunleavy must address the systemic failure of public education in Alaska even as those who love exploiting children for their economic gain try to put his administration on the defensive.

   The GED.com is nationally normed at 12th grade and good employers know it.

   The Educrats candidate for governor was an ASD high school graduate, you know…

7. Here’s a quiz for you. Craig, Klawock, Hydaburg, and Southeast Island school districts are located on what island?

8. How can a lib vote this way unless they want their child to be a dumb —. I thought parents wanted the best for their child.

9. Learned ignorance results in parents who raise stupid kids because their own parents raised stupid kids.

   Under No Child Left Behind we required children in the public system to pass a 10th grade test to graduate high school (HSGQE). Students who couldn’t pass that test over three years of high school received a Certificate of Attendance.

   When teachers and their union convinced the legislature to change that law, all those who couldn’t pass a 10th grade test received Alaska District diplomas retroactively.

   Gov. Dunleavy knows this and these are the class of people who want to recall him from office.

   Mark Begich is an Anchorage School District graduate, you know…

10. What needs to happen- the education system should be graded to what they are producing. Failure to produce means less money next year. You folks in the Valley- just remember, 2/3rds of your property taxes are sucked into the pockets of the NEA crime family.

    The next issue- the “bilingual” teacher BS needs to stop. We speak English in this country. Not Russian, not Swahili, not Farsi, not Spanish. If you’re offended, feel free and pack your bags and leave the country. No one is stopping you.

    The easiest way to fix a lot of this- run for the school board. Be pro-active. The school board decides what school policies are and what is taught, not the NEA. If you’re retired and you have an ax to grind with the dismal education system, this is for you.

11. We teach the native language of our students in our school district. We didn’t take this state from anyone, we purchased it. The Russians are the ones that stole it. We are obligated, since our forefathers contributed to taking away a people’s way of life, to help the indigenous people retain their culture and help them in any way we can. That being said, I think pressing one for English is crap.

12. You could also volunteer at a local school and try to make a positive impact on a student’s life.

13. Wait! What?!! Is someone surprised??!!

14. When looking at these scores, also take into account the large numbers of students who opted out of these tests. That is going to skew the numbers, generally lower, for a variety of reasons.

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