Around the Corner: April 24, 2023
First of all…look at this new logo!
I think it captures so much of what I love about Fairbanks specifically, and Alaska in general.
Danielle did a great job with the design: big thanks to friends and family who also pitched in with inspirations and ideas.
Further iterations, banners, and other formats coming soon.
Just two posts last week: Wednesday somehow got away from me.
Monday explored some personal updates and birthdays after a satisfying weekend, while Friday has us take a look at a new school Board candidate, Bobby Burgess, an invite to a People Power Party hosted by Fireweed Collective in May, and more. One thing that’s coming up this week that I didn’t include is the GVEA annual meeting on Thursday, April 27 at 5pm. More information about that meeting is available here.
Big thanks to
at for his kind recommendation of my past post about Fast-Tracked Bridge Replacements.
Welcome new…memo-ites?… who subscribed as a result. There are now over 150 subscribers to
, which is quite humbling.Glad you could join us!
There is still time to submit public comments on the Gerstle River and Robertson River bridge replacement projects mentioned in the article above. Comments must be submitted by May 5, 2023. You can learn more about the fast-tracked projects, how to testify, and their connection to the ore-hauling plan proposed by Kinross here.
And, congratulations to Matt for his recent win of Best Blog by the Alaska Press Club! You can subscribe to his award-winning newsletter here.
Assembly Proposes Cutting Education Funding
Monday is usually pretty self-centered, but there is an important local development that deserve your attention.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly is well on its way to cutting funding for local public schools.
The image below offers up a concise summary of the situation.
A Public Education Facebook event shares the following information:
The FNSB Assembly is proposing to fund our community’s public education at $50 million next year ($9 million less than what the district recommended budget said it needs). The assembly will be discussing the local contribution to education funding over the next few weeks.
Please testify to your Assembly Members that you support using our local tax dollars to support our local schools. Many assembly members feel that with a BSA (state funding) increase likely this year that the need for a local contribution is lessened. However, the $59 million ask to the borough does not include enough funds to keep middle and high school class sizes from increasing nor any funding to provide educators with salary increases that will be needed to settle the contracts currently in arbitration and attract and retain high quality educators.
You can sign up to testify at the next regular Assembly Meeting, in-person or over the phone on Thursdays at 6pm on April 27th, May 4th, and May 11th, by calling the Borough Clerk’s Office at 907-459-1401. If you want to testify over the phone the clerk will CALL YOU when it is your turn so no need to wait on hold or zoom to let your voice be heard!
If you cannot testify, please email your Assembly Members at Assembly@fnsb.gov
Thank you in advance for advocating for the needs of our community. Our students deserve an excellent education!
While the numbers are grim (especially as we’ve been in a period of significantly rising costs, and flat salaries), I would also add that there’s a real human toll to being an educator in a system that’s shrinking past a sustainable level. Increased class sizes, ballooning of tasks, falling real wages, and less overall support all absolutely have an effect of the education of our students.
It’s okay to pay for services that make our community stronger, and public education is at the top of that list.
You can follow this well-run Facebook event for more information, updates, and other resources, and I hope you get a chance to testify in the coming weeks.
I’ll have more on this soon.
Thanks as always for reading, and I hope you have a great week.