Updated: November 26, 2024 Published: November 26, 2024

We all agree on a few things. Politicians advocate public safety, or say they are.

Prevention is better and cheaper than treatment. Adverse childhood experiences (high ACE scores) correlate with poor outcomes, including crime. Since 2014, violent crimes of all kinds have increased in Anchorage. Our police forces are overstretched.

But since 2013, our politicians have made decisions that have resulted in schools and teachers being deprived of the financial stability they need to thrive in our city, and our educational outcomes are in free fall. Now we have proposals to close many popular neighborhood schools.

A recent study from Michigan showed that investing in schools is the best way for a community to prevent criminal behavior.

So let’s commit politicians to doing the right thing to combat rising crime rates: invest in children and our neighborhoods by fully funding all of our schools and our teachers.

Don’t close any of them. This is our chance for small class sizes. Surround them with care and attention at a time when more than 100 languages ​​are spoken by Anchorage School District students.

If we were committed to our schools, retaining and recruiting good teachers could be the best way to reverse our attrition problem. Connect the dots and fund what works.

– Tina Tomsen

Anchorage

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