NEA-Alaska Legislative Candidate Questionnaire 

Candidate: Lynda Zaugg

Office: Senate District O

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?

Yes

Explain: Every child in Alaska should have access to an adequately funded education.

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

I would work with NEA Alaska, the State Department of Education, Superintendent Comeau and the Anchorage School Board to determine the best way to provide funding for our schools.

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

Yes

Explain:

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?

The instructional unit approach allows us to more adequately meet the needs of individual students and individual schools.

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?

I would work to ensure that compensation is adequate, and I would reexamine the student loan forgiveness clause for educators who are returning to teach in Alaska.

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?

No

Explain: During times of financial difficulty, every effort should be made to retain tenured staff. However, I believe this is an issue better dealt with through the collective bargaining process. I ….

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?

Yes

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?

We should be working with the schools and school districts to figure out what the best way is to implement this Act in Alaska’s schools. Each community will have slightly ….

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 believe education is critical, and I’m willing to work with NEA-Alaska, Superintendents, school boards, the Department of Education, parents and students to figure out what would work best ….

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?

Yes

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

I would work with TERS and PERS to make sure both the employer and employee contributions are adequate.

Vouchers

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

No

2. Would you support vouchers?

No

3. Would you support tuition tax credits

No Response

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: It’s important that Alaska’s schools are safe for our children. Sometimes schools are the only safe place that kids have to go.

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