RESULTS FOR ANCHORAGE

Jason produces for the Anchorage School. He is able to do this because he is in a position of influence as a member of House leadership. His opponent, were he to win, would be in the super-minority and he would not even be in the room where decisions are made.

Here are three critical examples of Jason protecting the Anchorage School.

First, Jason has repeatedly ensured that the Anchorage School does not merge with JCPS. Each session efforts are made to require merger of independent school districts with their respective county school district. Just this past session HB 227 would have allowed a county school district to force an independent school district to consolidate with it. In other words, the bill as filed would have allowed JCPS to take over the Anchorage School. Jason immediately recognized the danger and went to work. He reached out to members of the Anchorage School Board and drafted an amendment to the bill that prohibits merger of JCPS and Anchorage without Anchorage’s approval. Jason then met with the bill sponsor, who is the Chairman of the House Education Committee, and received his commitment to include Jason’s amendment to protect Anchorage. The bill (as amended) passed the House and was assigned to the Senate Education Committee, but did not pass. It is likey that this bill will come up again next session, and Jason will put his entire weight and position into ensuring that the Anchorage-protecting amendment is included in the bill. If Jason’s opponent were to win this election he would not be able to make any changes to the bill, thus putting the Anchorage School in serious jeopardy of being consolidated with JCPS.

Second, this past session SB 210 was filed in the Senate. SB 210 would have required every school district to adopt a policy to allow the enrollment of nonresident pupils, thereby allowing anyone to attend the Anchorage School regardless of whether they lived in the district or paid taxes there. As Jason has done before, he met with the bill sponsor and received an agreement that if the bill moved through the process that it would be amended to protect Anchorage’s interests. The bill passed out of the Senate Education Committee, but it did not move any further through the process. The sponsor has said that SB 210 will come back up in the next session, so Anchorage needs Jason there to protect the interests of the Anchorage School. Again, though politics may be unfair, the simple truth of the matter is that Jason’s opponent, were he to win, could not even get a meeting with the bill sponsor and there is no chance that he could get the bill amended to protect the Anchorage School’s interest.

Third, each session the Anchorage School is on the chopping block to receive reduced funding from the state. This is because the formula used to divvy up state education funds is based in large part on the amount of local property taxes that are brought into the school district. Because Anchorage is a wealthy district, this would mean that the Anchorage School would lose state funding. But while the Anchorage School may not be entitled to increased funds under the formula, it is unfair to actually reduce its funding. After all, Anchorage taxpayers pay a lot of taxes to Frankfort. So every budget cycle Jason uses his influence in House leadership to insert language to hold the Anchorage School harmless and receive the same amount of funding that it received the year before. By doing that, Jason has ensured that the Anchorage School gets over $700,000 annually in state funding, money that it would not otherwise receive.

The Anchorage School is important to the citizens of Anchorage. And with Jason in Frankfort, residents can rest assured that the school will continue and will not be harmed. He has used his relationships, influence, and position to protect Anchorage’s interests, most especially its neighborhood school. Whether one agrees with the way politics works or not, losing a proven member of the super-majority party would be highly detrimental to Anchorage’s interests. In sum, Jason has stood up for us. This election we need to stand up for him.

One final point. I regularly speak with members of the Anchorage School Board and they have been great to work with. Whatever issues might be present internally, when it comes to my work to protect the Anchorage School, the Board members have been on top of it.