While driving home to Willow last Friday, the radio news story that Governor Walker suspended his campaign was interrupted by an ad paid for by Unite Alaska calling Mike Dunleavy a quitter. For English teachers who need a real-world example of irony, it just doesn’t get any better than that.
Lately, examples of irony seem to be everywhere in Alaska politics. If it weren’t for the fact that people are being harmed, it would be entertaining. Democrats who claimed to be champions of women, but were forced from political office in #metoo disgrace. Politicians who claimed they “had to cut the PFD to save the PFD.” Democrats, “champions of the poor,” who imposed the most regressive income tax in the history of Alaska by cutting the PFD. And perhaps most disturbing of all, a senior senator who didn’t use the rule-of-law to confirm a Supreme Court justice who will make landmark decisions using the rule-of-law.
NEA-Alaska joined the Irony Hall of Shame with their endorsement of the Walker/Mallott, err…, uhhh…, Davidson ticket. And while there hasn’t been a public endorsement of Begich yet, the NEA is likely donating thousands of dollars to his campaign now that Governor Walker has quit. Surprising? No. Like leadership in most public employee unions in Alaska, the leaders of NEA support Democratic candidates (and Democratic candidates pretending to be Independents) because they want increased funding without accountability.
I can see how it would be easy for the public to think a union endorsement represents how members feel about a candidate, but NEA’s snub of the gubernatorial candidate with an impressive career as an educator doesn’t reflect how many teachers feel about Mike Dunleavy. Instead, it exposes the sad reality that NEA has very different goals than most teachers. Clearly, student learning and improved educational outcomes are not NEA’s primary focus.
To understand an educator’s goals, you must realize that we do not choose to become teachers because we can’t do anything else. There are many other things we can do to earn a living. We speak foreign languages and have degrees in math, physics, and economics. We have honed the skills to lead difficult discussions that promote creative solutions. We have the ability to remain calm and patient in stressful situations. Perhaps most importantly, our ability to offer grace and positive affirmation, even when one least deserves it, creates future citizens who accomplish amazing things.
We teach because we love learning and we love people. We teach because we believe that everyone has been blessed with gifts, talents, and unique abilities that they can use to serve others and their communities. We teach because we know that everyone is capable of learning and growing. Unlike the NEA, our goals are not to make more money and avoid accountability. For most of us, we really only have one goal; to help each and every one of our students be successful.
Educators in Alaska can feel good about voting for Mike Dunleavy because he shares our love of teaching, our goals for education, and our desire for better educational outcomes. He has worked and been promoted in every position he has held as an educator; teacher, principal, superintendent, and school board member. He has lived and worked in rural and urban Alaska and understands the challenges that all Alaskans face. He understands that all students learn differently. He believes that parents want and deserve choice in the education of their children. He knows that more money should be spent in the classroom instead of gobbled up by inefficiencies.
Despite a public-school system in Alaska that continues to rank at or near the bottom in every educational measurement, the NEA fights for the status quo and wants a governor who will continue the failed policies of the Walker administration. For that, they deserve a failing grade.
Mike Dunleavy understands that in addition to responsibly developing our natural resources, we must do a better job of developing our most important resources; our students. For this, he should earn both an A grade from teachers and their vote.
Todd Smoldon has taught high school economics, social studies, Japanese, and English for 21 years and has lived in Alaska for 31 years.
