Opinion: House Republicans are putting the IGNITE program at risk.

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House Republicans recently voted to uphold Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of SB140. As a result, thousands of Anchorage students and their families now face an uncertain future. Without the additional funding for classroom instruction that SB 140 would have provided, and without a clear path to increasing education funding by the end of this legislative session, local students will face increased class sizes. , the opportunity for choice in higher education is likely to be lost. Schools, staff reductions in immersion programs, and the elimination of his IGNITE program in ASD.

While each of these opportunities is important, the Anchorage Board of Education and Anchorage General Assembly have played a role in supporting the continuation of the program, which is why we write this letter today to advocate for IGNITE at the state level. I am writing.

IGNITE is a school-based program that serves the complex needs of 2,193 gifted elementary school students across ASD. These high-achieving students are taught by teachers who meet state requirements for credit in gifted education. IGNITE Classrooms support student growth and engagement by providing opportunities to engage and collaborate at an advanced academic level. IGNITE programming supports students’ critical thinking and organizational skills, emotional skills, and problem-solving skills. Rather than being told to look for specific answers, IGNITE students explore ways to think, learn, analyze, and discuss. IGNITE offers children the opportunity to expand their minds in new ways that cannot be replicated outside of the IGNITE classroom. Our kids are looking forward to her IGNITE day. IGNITE teachers say IGNITE keeps students in school in districts with high absenteeism rates. IGNITE is the type of program that helps Alaska foster innovation and produce the next generation of leaders needed to drive development.

Starting in the 2021-22 school year, all second-year students will be tested by IGNITE. Students qualify based on a comprehensive point system that includes competency and achievement tests, class performance, teacher learning grading, and analysis of student motivational characteristics. All test scores are district-wide regional standards and district standards for Title I, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students. Therefore, systems are increasingly identifying students in ways that reflect the entire population of elementary school students with ASD. As a result, her IGNITE certification rate for Title 1 schools is, in some cases, four times higher than her previous rate.

IGNITE was largely eliminated in the 2020-2021 school year, but four years of savings and COVID-19 relief funds allowed ASD to maintain a valuable program despite ASD’s growing structural deficit throughout this period. I was able to do. However, since his one-time federal relief funds will no longer be available after September 2024, the mechanism by which the district can maintain his IGNITE for the 2024-25 school year and beyond is ASD currently expects only a statutory increase in the base pupil quota.

Because IGNITE serves students in neighborhood schools throughout the municipality, the average state legislator has between 150 and 225 IGNITE children in each school district. For example, a school bounded by the district represented by Rep. Julie Coulombe (R-Anchorage) enrolls 205 IGNITE students; There are 256 IGNITE students enrolled in schools bounded within the district represented. Tom McKay (R-Anchorage). Both senators voted against overriding the veto to increase education funding.

But in a recent joint session, where the Legislature’s attempt to override Dunleavy’s veto fell by one vote, Coulomb and McKay each voted in favor of repealing the education bill. If either Mr. Coulombe or Mr. McKay had voted “yes” to repeal, Congress would have enacted a larger BSA and programs like IGNITE would have been more secure. Instead, they sacrificed students in their own district to curry favor with the governor. Currently, his IGNITE and language immersion programs with ASD are at risk.

Alaska has suffered a decade-long exodus as inflation erodes the value of the state’s investments in education. Currently, our employer allows him to have two jobs and he can only have one. We believe that the underfunding of the education system is the main cause of population exodus and the resulting labor shortage.

If lawmakers want to accelerate the exodus and economic decline, the single most effective way to do that is withhold funding from schools and cut back on major programs that keep families in Anchorage and Alaska. Some of them will probably be abolished. But with a different vision for economic growth, it’s time to change course and raise the BSA this year. As voters, we need to fire those who opposed education funding and replace them with representatives who support our schools.

Namoly Bagayoko, Kelly Brown, Nazly Mofidi, Dale Munger and Rachel Parrish, Miriam Roberts and Matthew Ubedei IGNITE I am a student’s guardian.

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