Alaska Charter Schools Perform - Despite the State's Efforts

Alaska's charter school program is one of the least-well-supported charter school programs in the United States. Education "experts" around the education establishment would point to that and predict that the Alaska charter school system would be struggling to equip the kids with even rudimentary education.

They would be wrong. With only local control, essentially from parents, Alaska's charter schools are some of the best in the country.

Despite having one of the most poorly supported public charter school systems in the country, Alaska charter school parents have managed to create the highest performing charter system in the US.
That’s the conclusion of two PhD’s who produced a scientific study for Harvard University in November 2023. The researchers from the Harvard study had no motivation to make Alaska’s charter schools look better or worse than any other state.
Recently, an Alaska public school teacher and an Anchorage-based political activist authored an opposing opinion to the Harvard study. These two individuals used an unusual statistical approach to make our high-performing charter schools appear less effective. Their motivation seems to be aimed at providing ammunition for those who oppose Gov. Dunleavy’s very modest plan to reinforce our very successful public charter school programs.

While I'm tempted to ask why these charter schools need more support from Juneau when they seem to be doing just fine as they are, I appreciate Governor Dunleavy's desire to reinforce success. And Alaska's charter schools are succeeding; the numbers show that:

In the 2022 state testing of our 500 public schools, Eagle Academy Charter School was the top ranked public school for English/Language Arts proficiency. Eagle Academy was able to achieved the best results in the state despite having significantly less financial support than nearby neighborhood schools and despite operating from a 50+ year-old converted roller rink.
Also in 2022, Alaska was ranked 43^rd in the nation for charter school support, out of the 45 states who allow charter schools, according and to the National Alliance for Public Chater Schools. This nonpartisan organization also had no reason to make Alaska’s support for charter school look better or worse than any other state.
When looking at Anchorage School District and comparing the results for the 52 neighborhood elementary schools to the seven elementary charter schools — four of the five highest performing district schools in English/Language Art proficiency were charter schools.

Those are good results — and they have to be a thorn in the sides of the education establishment.

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The government that governs least governs best, and the government is more effective the closer it is to the citizens. Alaska's charter school program proves that very clearly. With minimal (essentially no) state interference or funding, the charter school system in the Great Land is producing better test results than the state-funded schools. Alaska is one of five states where charter schools may only be approved by local school boards; they receive almost no support of any kind from boroughs or the states. They are the product of the parents — and they work.

This is the model. Get the government out of education. Let parents run the show. At most, let it be managed at the municipal or county (or borough) level. Our current system funnels billions in taxpayer dollars through federal and state bureaucracies, absorbing a large proportion of those dollars before trickling some of it back to the school districts with a ridiculous number of strings attached. That system's broken. There's a better way — and Alaska's charter schools have shown the way.