Contributed by Rus’sel Sampson
As a parent and constituent in Assembly District 6, I have many legitimate questions about Leland Baugus’ September introduction as a Mat-Su School Board candidate. The unique characteristics of the Mat-Su Borough bring about many challenges to a voucher system that could increase costs and harm the education of many students.
Families in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District already enjoy the option of open boundaries – well, sort of. One of the greatest barriers we face as a community is the lack of public transportation needed to make choice truly effective in such a large geographic area. Even if a school is willing to bus students from Willow to Palmer, for example, how will transportation be funded? Many families do not take advantage of boundary exemptions due to time and financial constraints. Additional funding to support a logistics endeavor of this magnitude would only increase costs, invalidating the savings argument on its face. Increased state appropriations are very unlikely given our fiscal situation and a delegation that voted to increase property taxes, make additional cuts, or both through breaking the state’s bond debt reimbursement promise. Surely this isn’t going to support the additional expense of vouchers.
Baugus brings attention to his political ideology, stating, “My philosophy of public education is based on my conservative values and beliefs.” It is not the role of a school board member to impose their politics on families. This is of particular concern where data, not culture, is relied upon to determine educational outcomes - an idea our conservative board members revere when convenient. We have already experienced the fallout of conservatism through public outcry over banned books and the circumventing of teacher union representation in contract negotiations. Running for this seat on political values is a bit out of touch, as most Mat-Su residents are aware that the board is intended to be apolitical.
Furthermore, the idea of outsourcing public services has not proven cost-effective thus far. The business model has produced a much larger superintendent salary for what is promised to result in higher achievement scores through more expensive Advanced Placement (AP) classes. The free market is competition-based, so why not just say that we are willing to increase costs for better outcomes? Perhaps the answer lies in the lack of accountability in the private school system. I am not suggesting that these businesses don’t churn out successful students; I wouldn’t know. In fact, the absence of reporting requirements ensures that almost no one knows how a typical student would fare in a single parent or working parent household. Most perplexing is the use of public school test scores to justify a system that lacks accountability in the same manner.
The ideological position that Baugus takes in supporting “religious schools” is one that should frighten every Mat-Su conservative. It is this type of narrow ethnocentric thinking that neglects constitutional law. Publicly funding “religious schools” means adding Islam, Judaism, Scientology and possibly even Satanism to the mix. Revisit a 2019 Kenai Borough meeting opening with a satanic invocation if you believe this is too outlandish. While the removal of prayer in public schools has become a point of contention for many Christians, it should be viewed as protecting one’s own freedom to make religious decisions; preserving Christianity for the Christian family.
The truth about a school voucher system is that it will divert resources from large schools open to every student to smaller schools that benefit a few motivated by faith. Mat-Su public schools were built to accommodate the communities they serve, and the expense of larger buildings reflect such. In any logical universe, pooling resources as a matter of efficiency is recognized as strategic. If the sole purpose
is to lower costs and increase achievement, neither has been demonstrated to date and the public should demand data before voting for a half hazard idea that is driven solely by one’s religious passion. For these reasons, I’ll be voting for Dwight Probasco for School Board in District 6.