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Outer Coast students learn through individualized education and experiences. (Photo provided by Bryden Sweeney-Taylor)

Opinion

Opinion: Seeking a new model of higher education, Sitka school draws from Alaska and national inspirations

In 1986, two linguists, Ron and Suzie Scollon, drafted a proposal for the Sealaska Heritage Foundation to inaugurate…

Looking up at the 1882 Edward Webster House on Telephone Hill from Second Street and Main Street in January 2024. (Photo by Laurie Craig)

Opinion

Opinion: Juneau Assembly holds firm on Telephone Hill development

In a rare moment of near unanimity during a special Assembly meeting last month, members voted to move…

A ninth grader places her cellphone in to a phone holder as she enters class at Delta High School on Feb. 23 in Delta, Utah. Most schools have policies regulating student cellphone use at school. But the reality is kids don’t always follow the rules and schools enforce them sporadically. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Opinion

Opinion: The problem education funding and reforms can’t fix

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is right. Increasing the Base Student Allocation funding for Alaska’s public schools alone won’t improve…

Filcom’s Ray Zimmer (0) blocks a shot from Klukwan’s Jess McGraw in the first half of the Juneau Lions Club 74th Gold Medal Basketball Tournament C Bracket Championship Game on Saturday, March 26, 2023, in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s gymnasium. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Foul decision by Gold Medal officials to leave defending champs out of this year’s tournament

I am writing to the editor to express my extreme disappointment and frustration to this year’s Juneau Lions…

(Juneau Emire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Some state lawmakers need to embrace reality, not PFD political theater

It was a polar-opposite week in the Legislature. While the Senate Finance Committee was reviewing honest numbers about…

(City and Borough of Juneau photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Juneau school board veers off-course

Last week’s Juneau School District (JSD) Board of Education meeting, expected to be perfunctory, was far from routine.

(Juneau Empire file photo)

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Stay considerate and compassionate during school consolidation process.

I’m reaching out to the citizens of Juneau to ask that we stop, take a breath and realize…

Deedie Sorensen is president of the Juneau Board of Education. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Powers and duties as a member of the Juneau Board of Education

“The Board of Education’s primary goal is to provide each student with an education of the highest quality…

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks in March of 2023 in support of an agreement between the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and Goldbelt Inc. to pursue engineering and design services to determine whether it’s feasible to build a new ferry terminal facility in Juneau at Cascade Point. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Cascade Point, AMHOB, and DOT’s stonewalling strategy

On Tuesday a joint session of the Legislature is scheduled to hold a vote on rejecting Gov. Mike…

(Getty Images)

Opinion

Opinion: Alaska serves as an immigration model to take note of

Between the border crisis and election-year politics, “immigration” has been in the news a lot. While I have…

Wanda Culp (left) speaks during a rally at the Alaska State Capitol on Saturday, June 22, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Why Alaska Natives like me oppose the landless bill

The 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) has never addressed Native claims. ANCSA is an industrial-rooted tool…

Students enter a bus stopped on Douglas Highway during the first day of the 2023-2024 school year. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Unintended consequences of the school district reorganization plan

During school board public comment sessions on proposed school reorganization options, many people suggested ways to keep both…

(Juneau Empire file photo)

Letters to the Editor

Letter: Legislature will best serve Alaskans by rejecting Dunleavy’s executive orders

Dunleavy’s executive orders have nothing to do with “streamlining” and everything to do with destroying.

Israeli soldiers are seen near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Monday. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Opinion

My Turn: Israel/Gaza and historic, religious and ethnic challenges of global terrorism

Dixie Belcher’s article titled “Palestinian residents are helpless victim in attacks made by leaders” published in the Juneau…

Former President Donald Trump speaks to a capacity crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

Opinion: A primary election of ill-informed voters

On Tuesday, Republicans across the state will help anoint Donald Trump as their party’s nominee for president. But…

HEX Cook Inlet, LLC and Subsidiaries presents a check to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Administration in October of 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Administration)

Opinion

My Turn: The Legislature should rein in AIDEA

This story has been updated to correct the photo caption, which originally stated AIDEA was presenting a check…

The Juneau School District administrative office, which would be closed and turned over to Juneau’s municipal government under a pending consolidation plan. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Juneau School District edges closer to balanced budget, but what’s next?

After a marathon public hearing last week, the Juneau School District (JSD) Board of Education voted 5-2 to…

(Juneau Empire file photo)

Letters to the Editor

Letter: What’s wrong with this picture?

At 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, I and several other moms and grandmas went to the Alaska Senate…

Students at Juneau Community Charter School play chess in a classroom. (Juneau School District photo)

Opinion

Opinion: Final Draft – Civic education and the problem with standardized testing

There’s a lot of intense disagreements with the education bill that the House Majority failed to advance on…

Joe Geldhof is a parent of two daughters who attended public schools in Juneau and a former Juneau Assembly candidate. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Focus on saving teacher jobs, not buildings or nostalgia, to fix school district crisis

The numbers are bad. Really bad. Even dire.