It’s not on the kids’ holiday wish lists. It’s not something they whisper in Santa’s ear. But it’s a gift that every child deserves, whether they’ve been naughty or nice.
It’s the gift of a good education — a gift that too few Alaska students receive.
This year, less than 40 percent of the state’s public school students met grade-level standards in English and math. Most alarmingly, just 14.7 percent of our tenth graders scored proficient in math.
Collectively, students didn’t do much better in science — about half failed to meet state standards.
The shortcomings of our education system are painfully obvious when compared with other states. U.S. News and World Report ranks Alaska 43rd in the nation for pre-K-12 education. Our fourth graders score lower in reading than students in 47 states.
It’s not for a lack of funding. Alaska spends a whopping $20,172 per pupil each year — more than any other state except New York. But as we all know from the holidays, the best gifts aren’t always the most expensive ones.
The real problem is that too many students are stuck in schools that aren’t meeting their unique education needs. Whether it’s because they live in the wrong ZIP code or because their parents lack the resources to afford an alternative, too many students are stuck in schools that fail to meet their individual interests, abilities or learning styles.
Fortunately, there’s a solution that most Alaskans support: expanding educational freedom. More than 60 percent of Alaskans agree that school performance would be improved if parents could choose where their children go to school and if their public education dollars followed them.
In fact, Alaska students are already taking advantage of several alternatives to the traditional neighborhood school.
In a process called open enrollment, some families have the freedom to attend public schools outside of their existing school zones, although this option is not open to all.
Students may also attend publicly funded charter schools. Unfortunately, Alaska’s weak charter school law forces charters to rely on local districts for authorization, funding and support, hampering their ability to expand and innovate.
Some families choose to homeschool their children or send them to a private school, but this isn’t a feasible option for everyone.
Alternatives to the one-size-fits-all approach exist, but educational freedom remains out of reach for many students, and their test scores continue to suffer for it. Alaska can and must do better.
One idea that is gaining popularity nationwide is to make education savings accounts (ESAs) available to families who decide the local public school is not the best fit for their child. ESAs provide parents with public funds to use on authorized learning expenses, including online courses, tutoring, textbooks and private school tuition.
ESA programs have helped thousands of students in states such as Arizona, Florida and Mississippi find educational options tailored to their own unique needs and aspirations.
Plenty of Alaska students would benefit from ESAs as well, and the idea is catching on. One poll found that Alaskans back ESAs by a 34-point margin. Support is especially strong among Alaska Natives, Africans Americans, and Latinos — groups that are often left behind by the traditional public education model.
Other ways we can increase education freedom include giving charter schools more leeway to innovate and providing tax credit scholarships to expand access to nontraditional schools.
This holiday season, we should not just be thinking about what presents to buy our children, but how we can provide them with the best opportunities for learning. The gift of a great education is more enduring than anything we can put under a tree.
• Jeremy Price of Anchorage is the Alaska state director of Americans for Prosperity Foundation. My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.
