Alaska Doesn’t Need D.C. to Educate Our Kids

By Richard Morgan
President, Mat-Su Classified Employees' Association
ESP At-Large Director, NEA-Alaska Board of Directors
In 1979, the U.S. Department of Education was elevated to a Cabinet-level agency under the promise that federal oversight would improve educational equity and student performance. Forty-five years and billions of dollars later, Alaska—and the nation—have very little to show for it.
National test scores are flatlining. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), reading and math scores across the country are in decline. In 1984, the average reading score for 13-year-olds was 257. In 2023, it was 256. That’s right—after decades of federal programs, mandates, and spending, we’ve lost ground.
Math scores tell an even more troubling story. In 2012, the average 13-year-old scored 285. By 2023, it had plummeted to 271—the lowest in decades. While the pandemic accelerated the drop, this decline started long before COVID-19. It’s not a virus that’s failing our kids—it’s a system that hands power to distant bureaucrats instead of local communities.
Alaskans understand the unique challenges our students face. From rural village schools to growing urban centers, we know that a one-size-fits-all model from Washington, D.C. simply doesn’t work here. Yet every year, the Department of Education sends down new programs, new assessments, and new compliance hoops that do nothing to move the needle on reading or math.
If the Department of Education were a local school board, voters would’ve replaced it decades ago.
Instead of streamlining education, the federal government has layered on ideology, mandates, and red tape. Alaska’s educators spend more time reporting to D.C. than responding to the students right in front of them. Local innovation is stifled. Parental input is sidelined. And communities that know what’s best for their children are too often told to sit down and comply.
Downsizing the federal Department of Education isn’t radical—it’s rational. Civil rights protections and funding formulas can still exist without a bloated bureaucracy. We don’t need D.C. to tell us how to teach reading—we need empowered districts, strong families, and local accountability.
Here in Alaska, we’ve already seen what happens when we return authority to the people closest to the students. Districts that prioritize early literacy, support vocational training, and actively involve families in decision-making see better results. In fact, during the pandemic, the Mat-Su Borough School District kept schools open while other areas stayed remote—and our students are better off for it.
We’re not asking to do less for our students. We’re demanding to do better by them—by removing the federal hand that too often makes things worse.
It’s time to give education back to Alaska.