February 20, 2014 Voice Your Opinions! Letters to the editor make a difference. You can send a 175-word letter to the Anchorage Daily News by e-mail (letters@adn.com); or by fax or mail (call them at 257-4308). Send letters to the Anchorage Press via e-mail editor@anchoragepress.com or by mail to 540 E. Fifth Ave, Anchorage, 99501. Feel free to call us if you need factual information to help you write a letter. Contact the Governor. The Governor can be reached at 269-7450; sean.parnell@alaska.gov; or www.alaska.gov. Contact us. My office can be reached at: 716 W. 4th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501; by phone: 269-0106; visit my website at http://gara.akdemocrats.org; or email: Rep.Les.Gara@akleg.gov

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

This Saturday you get your say to legislators. In Person!   That means you get to speak your mind, rather than send e-mails that some legislators don’t read, or letters that some legislators may toss. Back Problem Alert: I will be coming out of a back procedure and hope to make it all day Saturday, but have to get clearance from my doc!

That’s how it should work.  If you’d like to look at the issues we have raised, which you might want to talk about, you can go to www.replesgara.com, and look at the newsletters I’ve sent.  But, frankly – you all have your own minds, many better than mine – and you might not need to read anything to speak your mind.

Public testimony will occur from 9 am – 2 pm at the Assembly Chambers in the Loussac Library.

And at 1 pm, if you oppose cutting over 800 teachers, guidance and career counselors, and other educators between 2011 and next year, as the Governor currently proposes, join parents and others at a 1 pm Rally for Schools, also at the Loussac in front of the Assembly chambers.

Today I filed legislation to reverse prior school cuts.  I want to prevent the 200+ educator layoffs the Governor proposes for next year in his legislation.  In the last three years he and his allies have outvoted myself and other education advocates, and passed flat school funding that has caused over 600 layoffs. Under the latest legislation he proposes, we will have lost over 800 educators by next year if a better proposal isn’t passed.

Our legislation provides the funding needed to stop more cuts next year, and reverse some of the prior years’ cuts.  Evidence says that teachers need time to teach to individual students, and with growing class sizes, student opportunity is being damaged.  I want students who are educated, trained, and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

And evidence shows excellent principals can transform a low achieving school into a high achieving school.  Our legislation gives school districts funds to offer bonuses to principals who have a proven track record of innovation and maximizing student achievement.

 
Rep. Gara with Rural Development Students and Faculty

Children have dreams.  Leaders have a duty to help students reach them.  Firing teachers and counselors who steer students towards college, job training, and financial aid is the wrong way to go. Among other things, counselors and teachers work together to detect troubled students who have mental health problems that, in the worst case, may lead to suicide. From both an education and safety standpoint, we can’t keep slashing needed school staff.

Here is a link to our legislation, which will be assigned a bill number tomorrow. 022014_Excellence-in-Public-Education-bill.pdf.

And here is a link to the report showing that over 600 educators have been lost the last three years due to flat budgets that have fallen due to inflation. 092313_Teacher_Position_Reductions.pdf

Finally, here is a link to a document we complied from speaking to school districts about what funds they need to avoid layoffs next year. 022014_BSA-increase-needed-by-schools.pdf.

As always, call with any questions.  I hope you are well.  And I hope to see you Saturday.

My Best,