NEA-Alaska Legislative Candidate Questionnaire 

Candidate: Carl Gatto

Office: House 13

Candidate responses exceeding 30 words have been truncated.
Adequate Funding

1. Do you support a needs based process for determining the level of school funding?

No Response

Explain: Not as the exclusive method but we need to consider it as discussed below.

If you support needs based funding, how would you accomplish this?

Done right this idea has merit. We might fund all students equally then add additional dollars according to need. These additional dollars need to be addressed by students needs, not ….

2. Do you support a return to the instructional unit approach to funding schools?

No

Explain: Of course this answer depends on the available alternatives! The current system has flaws so I'd want to take a good hard look at many funding methods.

3. The recent changes in funding for pupil transportation have had negative impacts in a number of school districts. How would you address this issue?

To be fair, the change in the student transportation formula resulted in a increase over what school districts would have received. Districts were scheduled to receive a 20% reduction.

4. Will you commit to working with NEA-Alaska and other groups in developing a long-range plan to supplement current funding levels and achieve adequate funding for schools within a decade?

Yes

Attracting & Retaining Quality Educators

1. Fiscal uncertainty has caused many “new to the profession” educators to leave Alaskan school districts and even leave the state. What would you do to eliminate this annual event that has cost our state so many valuable educators?

To keep teachers long term the state needs a reliable income. We only got half way there in 2004. Today oil is $40 a barrel, mining and tourism are soaring….

2. Would you work to amend state statute to make sure that district claims of financial shortfalls are verified by independent third parties when dealing with the layoff of tenured teachers?

Yes

Explain: I think audits are a necessary part of any institution which receives tax dollars. The public could expect no less.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB)

1. Would you support categorical funding so educators (teachers and instructional aides) can receive professional development to meet the standards set by ESEA/NCLB?

No Response

2. What amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) do you believe need to be made to make the law workable in Alaska?

No district can satisfy the "highly qualified teacher" requirement, or for that matter the "adequate yearly progress" requirement. Each year it becomes even more impossible. There are additional problems.

3. What are you willing to do in concert with NEA-Alaska and other organizations to amend No Child Left Behind to be “Alaska friendly” and to gain full funding of the Act?

I've worked with Commissioner Sampson as well as Superintendents from nearly all the districts. I also work regularly with the AASB. My involvement has been well received and I will ….

High Stake Testing.

1. This past year, some students did not receive diplomas for the sole reason they did not pass the High School Graduation Qualifying Examination (HSGQE.) Would you support amending the law to allow schools to assess student knowledge and abilities through a variety of means and not just through a single test?

Yes

2. Would you support funding for additional programs/staff to specifically assist students having difficulty passing the HSGQE?

Yes

3. Would you support categorical funding for district-developed remedial programs for students who do not meet standards on Alaska’s benchmark exams?

Yes

PERS/TRS

1. Would you support a single tier for each public retirement system as a means of attracting and retaining quality educators?

No Response

2. How would you see the state’s public retirement systems meeting their increasing financial burden?

PERS/TERS is in a serious underfunding cycle. Lets's be fair! The Legislature funded the 2004 deficit and will want to examine this approach so as to protect those with whom ….

Vouchers

1. Do you support the use of public money for private and religious schools?

Yes

2. Would you support vouchers?

No Response

3. Would you support tuition tax credits

Yes

Safe Schools

1. Students and staff must feel safe and secure in our schools for learning to take place. Would you support funding for programs/staff that have been demonstrated to increase student and staff safety?

Yes

Explain: The best learning occurs when the basic need for safety has been addressed. We owe that to both teachers and students.

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Note: …. indicates the response has been truncated.