The election comes at a time when the district faces significant challenges, and pits incumbents against candidates who say they want to see fundamental changes to how the board operates.
The 2024 candidates for Anchorage School Board include, in the top row from left, Pat Higgins , Kay Schuster and Angela Frank , plus in the bottom row from left, Dora Wilson , Carl Jacobs and Chelsea Pohland .
In this race, voters will choose between the incumbent board members who usually vote with the majority, and have backing from the teachers union and local progressive groups — and candidates who say they want to see fundamental changes to how the board operates. If they win, each would be serving a second consecutive term on the board. Anchorage municipal code requires school board members to take at least one three-year term off before running again.
Higgins said that more state funding would allow districts to offer more competitive salaries to keep teachers in the state, and that teachers also needed better retirement benefits to stay.“Our salaries are below the Lower 48, for the most part” Higgins said. “And the fact that we don’t have a defined benefit retirement system makes it a total compensation package that’s not effective.”
Schuster has received support from a number of prominent local conservatives including Rep. Jamie Allard, an Eagle River Republican; longtime local GOP stalwart Judy Eledge who last yearShe also indicated in an interview she would be less likely to side with the board majority on some issues.
Like Schuster, Pohland is backed by many prominent Alaska conservatives, and the two have campaigned together at fundraising events. 2024 candidate for Anchorage school board Chelsea Pohland. showed he’d received $68,000 throughout his campaign, while Pohland had raised less than a tenth of that. Like Higgins, Jacobs received many larger donations from local unions, and also received support from other incumbent school board members.
He said he was committed to the board’s goals, including supporting improvements in students’ reading and math, and that he hoped to continue working toward making charter and optional schools accessible to all families.
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