newsminer.com

If Alaska wants to make inroads on some of the most serious problems in education, such as high drop-out rates and achievement gaps, the state will have to direct more money to schools and make a return to defined benefits.

That was the message from Barb Angaiak, president of the National Education Association-Alaska and a former junior high math teacher.

She is in Juneau lobbying legislators for a return to a defined benefits system, the association's top priority. Without steady, secure retirement benefits, Alaska schools are having a hard time attracting and retaining quality teachers, she said.

One Senate and two House bills advocate a return to the defined benefit system.

Angaiak said she was "encouraged" by Gov. Sarah Palin's pledge in her State of the State address to maintain forward funding for schools. Concerns remain, however. Palin talked of physical education classes and early childhood education, which take money.

NEA-Alaska is part of the Alaska Public Pension Coalition, a group of public employee associations representing teachers, firefighters, police officers, municipal workers and others. Angaiak estimated the coalition represents the interests of 80,000 Alaska families.

Other NEA-Alaska priorities for this legislative session include more money for schools in general, major upgrades to rural teacher housing, which Angaiak said is substandard in some places.

Early childhood education, lowering drop-out rates and closing achievement gaps all come back to higher teacher salaries and strong retirement benefit packages, she said.

"If we want the very best, we have to do something to pay for it," she said. "It all comes back to the fundamental issues."