CHALK TALK: Time to increase the BSA

Over the past twenty years I have seen and felt the erosion of flat funding in our schools. I believe we need to balance our state budget but it shouldn't be to the detriment of our children and future. Programs have been cut and staffing decreased in our public schools. Many of my colleagues have retired, quit or decided to go into other fields where they could make as much or more money without the same pressure. Programs were cut or absorbed into the master schedule.

I first started teaching at Wasilla High School in 2005. At that time we had two Spanish teachers, a Japanese teacher, two French teachers and myself, the bilingual and Russian teacher. Now 2018 we have one Spanish teacher, one section of Japanese and two sections of Russian. We no longer have a music department, instead we have a music teacher.

Several years ago we offered Human Relations several times a day. Human Relations was a class in which students helped each other, as Peer Helpers, and the community as a whole. The students prepared presentations to other students and parents about drug abuse, homelessness, peer mediation and school spirit. We haven't been able to offer Human Relations to kids in three years because we are hobbling to teach core classes as English I, Algebra II and Biology with our current staffing.

Recently I talked to a parent who is choosing to homeschool her child because of the lack of programs we now offer at the brick and mortar schools. She said that her son would have attended his neighborhood school had we offered more electives. Our staffing dictates our course offerings. We have to offer requirements for graduation and unfortunately that means elective classes have and will continue to be cut unless we receive additional funding.

It’s time to increase the Base Student Allocation, BSA, for our students and staff. Rep. Les Gara, from Anchorage, has introduced HB 339 which would increase the BSA by $100 per student. And how do we pay for this? Bring on a statewide sales tax and/or an income tax. I’m not a proponent of taxes, God knows my pay is not keeping pace with the increases in utilities, food let alone health insurance rates.

For the Mat-Su the BSA increases will mean not cutting programs or perhaps reinstating programs that have been cut. An increase of $100 per student is about $1,880,000.00 to our local schools. I support HB 339 because some funding will mitigate further program and staff cuts. Passing HB 339 and increasing the BSA by $100 will help save programs and allow students to experience more than just the core requirements in our public schools. And more importantly, students will know that they are valued.

Jill Showman is an English teacher at Wasilla High School.