Members of the Wrangell School Board and two high school students will be heading to Juneau this week for the legislative fly-in. The fly-in is an event organized by the Association of Alaska School Boards. According to Aleisha Mollen, school board president, 35 students and school district representatives from across the state will have the opportunity to learn about the legislative process, meet with their representatives, and discuss issues that are important to them and their district. Mollen and Board Member David Wilson will be attending, as well as high school junior and sophomore Jing O’Brien and Jade Balansag.
“It’s one weekend the AASB designates to bring in members and students from around the state,” Mollen said. “So we’ll have two days, Saturday and Sunday that will be conference days and we’ll learn who the legislators are, what the bills are, how to advocate at a legislative level. Then Monday and Tuesday is when we’ll go around. Every district has their own appointments with different people at different times.”
According to a draft flyer passed around at the workshop, Wrangell has five legislative priorities they want to advocate for during the fly-in: Priority funding for education, a revenue enhanced fiscal plan, career and technical education, student emotional and mental health, and early childhood education.
The state of Alaska must provide “timely, reliable, and predictable” revenue for schools, the draft flyer read. With rising costs, Wilson said, it is getting harder for school districts across the state to make ends meet. Board Member Annya Ritchie added that a $20 million cut to education funding, proposed by Governor Mike Dunleavy, could also have a very negative impact on Wrangell’s school system. To help with these funding issues, the school district felt it should be another priority for legislators to create a fiscal plan with multiple revenue streams for the state. At a more local level, the Wrangell School District wants to advocate for increased CTE opportunities for students, as well as more support for student mental health programs and early childhood education.
After reviewing the priorities and discussing the format of the flyers they will be passing out, the board also discussed the proposed schedule with the students. They also offered them advice on how to dress at the capitol, what the fly-in conference will be like, and also how to talk to their representatives and effectively advocate for their priorities. One thing they proposed was sharing stories about what the school was doing right, and what programs needed assistance.
“You’ve got all week, I know it’s a short week,” Wilson said to O’Brien and Balansag. “If you don’t have stories, start asking kids at school for stories about what these things mean to you. What does the CTE program mean to your friends? Get as many stories as you can from your friends at school.”
The Wrangell delegation will be leaving for Juneau on the afternoon plane this Friday, Feb. 8. The fly-in is scheduled to last from Feb. 9 to 12. The students and board members are scheduled to meet with multiple state representatives and senators over that time period.
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