Ric Smith: Time for Chugiak and Eagle River to forge a new path, including one for education

For nearly five decades, the residents of Eagle River and Chugiak have contributed a significant portion of their tax dollars to the Municipality of Anchorage, only to feel their community has received little in return.

Many of us have long held different views from our neighbors in Anchorage on how a city should be managed. After almost 50 years of growth and maturity, we believe it’s time for Eagle River and Chugiak to stand as their own municipal government. This is the vision of Eaglexit: to detach from Anchorage and incorporate as a home rule borough.

With detachment, the area currently designated as Assembly District 2 (AD2), which includes all of JBER and Eagle River/Chugiak north to the Knik River, would become the Chugach Regional Borough (CRB), a Non-unified Home Rule borough. This transition would allow Eagle River/Chugiak to transform into the city it has long deserved to be: a city of self-governance, small, lean government, and empowered citizens. It would be a place where the will of the people is more closely aligned with their municipal officials.

Within this new borough, we will need to design and implement a new school district. A committee of residents, including myself, have been working diligently on this design, drawing from a wealth of experience and diverse backgrounds. Our committee includes current and retired ASD teachers and staff, private sector business individuals, experienced charter schoolteachers, a former ASD student, and parents/grandparents.

As the chair of the Eaglexit Education Committee, I bring 26 years of teaching experience in the ABC optional program here in Eagle River. I have witnessed firsthand the financial waste a large district can generate and the erosion of quality curricula. I’ve seen staff hired who don’t fit the programs or sound education policy, eroding the culture and expectations of the entire school. I’ve seen teacher morale so low that they leave Alaska altogether in search of better pay, better retirement, and better work environments.

Eaglexit offers a fresh perspective, learning from past mistakes and looking forward to positive changes within our new school district and better outcomes for the future of our community’s children. We’ve reviewed examples from the best schools in the nation.

The Education Committee has completed the charter for this new school district and looks forward to sharing our ideas with the community in greater detail. We will be holding public town halls throughout the winter months to engage with you and discuss our plans.

Our primary goal is to limit the powers of the School Board, the district superintendent, and district administration. Our charter grants the greatest authority to the members of the community of the Chugach Regional Borough, empowering you, the parents, to control the direction of your school district and decide the best educational models and curricula for the students. Our vision is for a district where authority flows from the schools and community to the superintendent and finally to the School Board.

This new district is based on the idea that parents have the right to ensure their children receive the best possible education and future. Each school within the CRB will be a charter school, where the community decides each school’s educational focus. The district will have an open enrollment policy with no boundaries, ensuring every child, regardless of socio-economic status, physical location, or family situation, can attend the school best suited to their needs. Each school’s focus will be to exceed the state standards and expectations, setting a national standard for excellence.

The Chugach Regional Borough will utilize contracted services wherever possible to streamline operations and run the district more efficiently. The School Board will serve solely for the benefit of the students, not its members. The superintendent’s authority will be derived from the community, and will not have the traditional autonomy of a public-school superintendent.

Each charter school within the Chugach Regional Borough will be founded by community stakeholders, including parents, school staff, and community members. Each school will have an Academic Policy Committee made up of staff, parents and community members to ensure the charter of the school is strictly followed. The committee will hire the principal, who will then hire the staff and enforce the charter with their team.

Our intent with the Chugach Regional Borough’s budget is to pay our teachers a competitive wage to attract excellent educators. We believe higher wages will enable teachers to set up a better retirement for themselves since the State no longer offers an attractive retirement plan for quality teachers. With the support of a faculty senate to address grievances, a collaborative teaching environment, higher wages, and better retirement options, we hope to make our district a place teachers want to be part of and raise their families.

Transparency is vital to our model, promoting parent collaboration and inter-school competition. Each school will report information through a district-wide website, including standardized test scores, class sizes, waitlist numbers, and financial disclosures.

Each school in the Chugach Regional Borough will adhere to federal and state laws and regulations regarding the education of special needs and highly gifted students.

Our charter, like the Constitution of the United States, limits the responsibilities and duties of its participants. The regulations and procedures that individual schools choose or that the School Board deems necessary are beyond our purview.

The charter frames a district that reflects the wants and needs of the majority of Chugach Regional Borough families. We, the Chugach Regional Borough Education Committee members, see many issues we could address to curtail today’s social challenges. By framing the charter as we have, we leave it up to the community to decide the social issues they want to address.

The Education Committee members look forward to our public town hall meetings, where we can present our ideas in more detail. We enthusiastically look forward to your questions and input as we build a school district where future generations will thrive.

Ric Smith is a former teacher in the Anchorage School District. He is an Eagle River resident and chair of the Eaglexit Education Committee.