ALASKA PUBLIC EDUCATION was once among the top academically in the nation. Today ALASKA! is at the bottom for academic outcomes. For what The People were paying teachers since the 1980s, we should have been able to hire the best in the world! Today, having a teacher workforce of some 8,500, Alaskans see a turnover of 2,000-4,000 teachers flushing through every year.
With more than 50 school districts–each with at least 10 students and a superintendent—the goal of Alaska public education is wealth distribution. As a product of Alaska education through a Master’s Degree and teaching certificate, DONN LISTON has a unique insight into how we are failing our students: DONN LISTON worked nine years in Juneau for the largest teacher union, NEA-Alaska!
Finding The Best Glidepath For Lawmaking (2022©donnliston.co) One abiding trait of a good teacher is ability to make instruction interesting and compelling to students. We teachers must instill the glory of the universe together with the wonder of a simple grain of sand. There are many ways to do this. So, when two …
Consequences from Life Choices (2022©donnliston.co) Brother, Dana Scott Liston had a terrible accident in Hawaii and this photo was taken when our mother, half sister Becky McLaughlin and mother’s husband, Gil Martin, came to see him at the hospital. Scott has been a quadriplegic since 1989. Looking back over a life of making good …
What are Meaningful Vocational Options for Alaskans? Alaska’s economy is very specific about what human resources it needs. To be successful in this job market, training after receiving a high school diploma or GED must consider what have been identified as in-demand priority occupations. Let’s look back a few years and bring the needs …
Seeking Alaskan Truths in 2021 (2021©donnliston.co) Living the Alaskan Lifestyle is by definition active. Sitting at a computer screen or looking at a phone are not active pursuits. So, having lived the Alaskan Lifestyle 60 years means I have mostly found my groove in dealing with demands of Alaskan Life—I’ve done enough Alaskan stuff …
(2021©donnliston.co) The writer and Margret Green award diplomas to one member of the last graduating class of Tom Thumb Montessori Schools, A previous reduced version of this story was published August 9, 2018 in ECHO Magazine Many Alaskan baby boomers experienced a remarkable 40-year Anchorage private education option at a school system I was …
How Eagle River Elks Contribute to our Community (2021©donnliston.co) Flag Day is June 14 but it was celebrated on Saturday, June 12 this year at the Eagle River Elks Lodge. Quality of life is improved throughout Alaska by works of the members at 15 Elks Lodges around the state, and one of the best lodges …
The Conspiracy against $Alaska Public Education$ As residents of Anchorage revel in the coming of summer–and everybody is living the dream after a long winter–negotiating teams for the Anchorage Education Association-NEA (AEA) and the Anchorage School District (ASD) are expected to soon present a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for a vote by union members. The current …
The Anchorage School District is too big, with a top-down Command-and-Control system accountable to a school board governed by members elected at-large, but ultimately accountable to no one to assure Local Control, according to former ASD teacher and principal, Sean Murphy. This is the dimension of the Anchorage School District: 46,115 students, of which more …
Our ASD Public Education Challenge: Parents in Eagle River/Chugiak Deserve Local Control Read More »
Looking Back, And A Vision for the Future (2021©donnliston.co) Anyone who has lived here any length of time knows the region of the state that includes Eagle River/Chugiak/Peters Creek is a unique part of Alaska. Dan Kendall once represented this area on the Anchorage Municipal Assembly and has experienced the effort to preserve the qualities …
Where Is Public Education Going Now? As a graduate of East Anchorage High School in 1969, I felt like one of the tiny fish raised in Alaska hatcheries and pumped through a four-inch hose into any of a number of Alaska lakes, to grow large enough to become opportunities for anglers to catch with …
