Alaska
National Council on Teacher Quality Report Card: Alaska Teacher Policy
Legend
 | Best practices. |
 | State meets goal. |
 | State nearly meets goal. |
 | State partially meets goal. |
 | State meets a small part of goal. |
 | State does not meet goal. |
| Full Report – National Council on Teacher Quality | |
Meeting NCLB Teacher Quality Objectives: D
| Goal A Equitable Distribution of Teachers |
| Goal B Elementary Teacher Preparation |
| Goal C Secondary Teacher Preparation |
| Goal D Veteran Teachers Path to HQT |
| Goal E Standardizing Credentials |
| Goal A Defining Professional Knowledge |
| Goal B Meaningful Licenses |
| Goal C Interstate Portability |
| Goal D Teacher Prep in Reading Instruction |
| Goal E Distinguishing Promising Teachers |
Teacher Evaluation and Compensation: D
| Goal A Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness |
| Goal B Using Value-Added |
| Goal C Teacher Evaluation |
| Goal D Compensation Reform |
| Goal E Tenure |
State Approval of Teacher Preparation Programs: F
| Goal A Entry Into Preparation Programs |
| Goal B Program Accountability |
| Goal C Program Approval and Accreditation |
| Goal D Controlling Coursework Creep |
Alternate Routes to Certification: F
| Goal A Genuine Alternatives |
| Goal B Limiting Alternate Routes to Teachers with Strong Credentials |
| Goal C Program Accountability |
| Goal D Interstate Portability |
Preparation of Special Education Teachers: F
| Goal A Special Education Teacher Preparation |
| Goal B Elementary Special Education Teachers |
| Goal C Secondary Special Education Teachers |
| Goal D Special Education Teacher and HQT |
Political contribution statistics from 2004 political cycle.
Union Political Contribution Totals
| Amount | Union |
| $ 69,000 | Alaska Public Employees Assoc/aft |
| $ 1,500 | Education Support Staff Assoc |
| $ 100 | Alaska Community College Federation Of Teachers Local 2404/accft |
In Alaska, after 3 years, public school teachers receive what's commonly called "tenure," a special employment protection that teachers unions defend. As the below federal statistics indicate, tenured teachers (as opposed to less-senior "probationary" teachers) are practically impossible to fire.
| 5.17% tenured/post-probationary teacher firing rate |
0.6% |
9.8% |
Data obtained from the Department of Education's 2007-2008 Schools and Staffing Survey.
Statewide Unions
Alaska Public Employees Association/AFT
Total Revenue: $ 2,467,339
Total Expenses: $ 2,608,827
Total Assets: $ 451,393
Data obtained from the Internal Revenue Service's Master Data File 2005-2006.
Other Unions
| Name | City | Total Rev. | Tax Period |
| Anchorage Education Association | Anchorage | $ 2,740,303 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Juneau | $ 2,467,339 | 2003 |
| Matanuska Susitna Education Assoc | Wasilla | $ 759,812 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Fairbanks | $ 720,742 | 2003 |
| Kenai Peninsula Education Association | Soldotna | $ 466,604 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Anchorage | $ 443,240 | 2003 |
| Education Support Staff Assn | Fairbanks | $ 306,120 | 2003 |
| Juneau Education Association | Juneau | $ 244,511 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Anchorage | $ 241,071 | 2004 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Soldotna | $ 224,235 | 2003 |
Teacher Contracts
| Name | District | Occupation | |
| Anchorage Education Association | Anchorage School District | Teachers |  |
| Public Employees Local 71 | Anchorage School District | Custodians | |
| Anchorage Council of Education | Anchorage School District | School Employees | |
| General Teamsters Local 959 (covering Food Service Bargaining Unit) | Anchorage School District | Food Service | |
| TOTEM Association of Educational Support Personnel | Anchorage School District | Educational Support Personnel | |
For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.
From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.
Anchorage Education Association: Protecting Bad Teachers
How We Discovered These Facts
This information comes from the Anchorage School District's response to a public information request filed by the Center for Union Facts, which asked for teachers who were terminated.Click here to read our full letter to the Anchorage School District.
The Anchorage Education Association (AEA) is the exclusive bargaining agent for teachers from the Anchorage School District, Alaska's largest. According to school district records, however, policies defended by AEA and its parent unions (NEA-Alaska and the National Education Association, America's largest teachers union) mean that practically no teachers are ever fired by the school system after they work for three years and acquire tenure.
In Anchorage, there are approximately 2,649 teachers with tenure. Original research by the Center for Union Facts into school district records indicates that, between the 2002-03 and the 2006-07 school years:
- 4 tenured teachers were fired for poor performance;
- 2 tenured teachers were fired for substance abuse;
- 1 tenured teacher was fired for failing to obtain a teaching certificate;
- and 1 tenured teacher was fired for unprofessional conduct.
Put another way, the Anchorage School District fires about 0.06 percent of its tenured teachers annually.
It's easy to believe that the vast majority of Anchorage's public schoolteachers are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 99.94 percent of its tenured teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones noted above. The best explanation, in our opinion, is that by protecting an outmoded employment system in the legislature and by turning tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, AEA and its affiliates have made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.
Source: Anchorage School District
Data current as of November 30, 2007
© 2010 Center for Union Facts