At the Justin Parish/Cathy Muñoz debate, when asked what his priority is, Justin Parish’s answer was emphatic and without hesitation: “Education.”
I will call Mr. Parish “Justin” in this letter because I feel I know him well enough, having spent a great deal of time talking with him about different district and state concerns, to be on a first-name basis.
Justin can speak from his experience of being an educator of children with a behavioral disability. He knows first-hand how valuable it is to provide an excellent education to our future Assembly members, our future governors, U.S. Congressmen and women; all children who will someday be contributing members in our community, in society. He also knows that we need to provide trade school education for those led to contribute essential community services rather than have the curriculum solely focused on the college-bound. We need both equally. Justin values and supports bringing Alaska Native culture into each classroom, which enriches the lives of all.
Justin was passionate in the debate when he stated that the current administration was no friend of education and it is not. You just don’t cut education. Ever. For any reason. To the contrary, you pour funds into education, all components of education. You can’t cut off an arm to save a leg any more than you can cut music and art, which are critical in honoring Native culture, to save science and math.
When Gov. Bill Walker signed SB 91, the criminal justice reform bill, into law, it addressed mental illness and substance abuse and the roles these play in incarceration. We need an advocate who will sponsor legislation that will work from the bottom up to prevent incarceration. To ensure success from the start, Justin would support having a professional evaluate the mental health needs of each child upon his or her entering school. From Justin’s experience he knows that early intervention in the key to treating mental illness, which is the key to preventing substance abuse and consequent incarceration and most importantly, preventing the ultimate tragedy — suicide. This is critical to our community.
I trust Justin Parish to fight to obtain the resources teachers need to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and innocent members of our society.
This is so repugnant to me I don’t even like to think about it, and I don’t support mudslinging but need to provide a contrast between the opponents. Cathy Muñoz, without rehashing in detail the unacceptable behavior on her part, asked for leniency for a man convicted of felony child sexual abuse. This shows how much she values children. That child will never completely recover from that assault. There is no excuse and no apology and no legislation great enough to give that child back her life.
Cathy Muñoz’s list of achievements were not about people, not about children; they were about buildings. Making beautiful buildings. We need someone who sees beyond beautiful buildings and sees our beautiful children.
I read through each of the House Finance Committee meeting minutes for 2015–2016, and even though Muñoz was present at these meetings I could not find a single comment from her amongst the comments made by the other committee members. I guess she had nothing to say. Justin has a lot to say and I want to hear it and I am excited to see what happens.
And that is why I will be voting for Justin Parish — because a vote for Parish is a vote for our children, a vote for our future.
• Melody Millard is the mother of two children and former classroom volunteer.
