I grew up in the Mat-Su and chose to build my life, career, and future right here in Interior Alaska. I became a teacher in August 2006. It was my first real career job, and I started full of hope, optimism, and curiosity.
Unfortunately, since then I have watched a steady, deliberate dismantling of our public education system.
For twenty years, I’ve watched dedicated educators pack up and leave. In the last few years, the crisis reached a breaking point. Across Alaska, from our major road-system high schools to small regional hubs, and right here in Fairbanks, classrooms are overflowing in ways that used to be unthinkable.
Here in Fairbanks, we are seeing the devastating human toll of this manufactured crisis firsthand. Recent school closures are uprooting children, severing the tight-knit connections they have with their neighborhood schools, and tearing our community apart at the seams.
I love teaching my students and coaching high school athletes in running and skiing throughout the entire school year. I pour my heart into supporting our students both inside the classroom and out on the trail. But the reality is that teaching in Alaska has become almost unbearable.
Our districts...