Family Update September, 2006 Please click a link below to read complete text. • GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDES AVAILABLE OCTOBER 23RD • SCHOOL VOUCHERS IN ALASKA • ALASKA FAMILY COUNCIL GOES PUBLIC AT STATE FAIR • TRUTH PROJECT COMES TO ANCHORAGE

GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDES AVAILABLE OCTOBER 23RD
The Alaska Family Council will be publishing and distributing the Alaska Voter's Guide for the General Election taking place on November 7th. The Guide asks candidates eight questions on issues ranging from sanctity of life to school choice to efforts in our state to expand gambling.

The Voter Guide will be available on the Alaska Family Council website, mailed out to individuals and distributed to churches and other groups across the state willing to help educate Alaskans on where candidates stand on important social issues.

In August, thousands of copies of the Voter's Guide were sent out to Alaskans across the state prior to the Primary Election. Copies were also handed out at the Alaska State Fair and through churches in communities from Homer to Kivalina to Barrow.

Distribution through churches is one of the most effective methods to get the Voterâ™s Guide out and yet many church leaders are hesitant to do so based on a misunderstanding of the law. According to IRS regulations, churches are prohibited from participating in, or intervening in (including the publishing and distribution of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.

The Alaska Family Council intentionally does not endorse or oppose any candidates in the Voter's Guide. No editorial comments are made and candidates are not rated based on answers they provide or refuse to provide. It is provided as a non-partisan, non-biased educational service.

Talk with your church leadership about distributing the Guides and ask them to contact the Alaska Family Council if they have any questions about the legality of doing so. To order copies for you or your church, call 907-279-2825.

For more guidelines regarding political activities and church involvement, you can download an article from the James Madison Center for Free Speech.

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SCHOOL VOUCHERS IN ALASKA
School Vouchers in Alaska
by Wendy Cloyd, contributing writer

A statewide voter's guide distributed by the Alaska Family Council (AFC) in August included a question about school vouchers. The ensuing media attention spotlighted an issue that hasn't received much attention lately but is obviously an issue important to many Alaskans.

The Controversy

The Alaska Voter's Guide, produced and distributed by AFC, asked candidates a series of eight questions intended to vet where each stood on key pro-family issues. Number eight focused on the topic of school choice.

The question posed was: "Would you support legislation to create a system of educational vouchers that would provide Alaska students with some financial assistance to attend a public, private or religious school of their choice?"

Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin answered, "Yes." Her main opponent in the race, former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles answered, "No."  The Alaska chapter of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teacher's union in Alaska -- which does not support a voucher program -- pounced on Palin, asking her to clarify her position at their own candidate forum. But Palin's response to them left as many questions as it did answers.

She told the teachers' union that she had made a mistake on the AFC questionnaire and really meant to check, "No."  "School vouchers are not permitted under the state constitution," she said in a follow-up statement. "I do support parental choice with public funding for charter, home schools, and vocational training."  That's when the controversy began.

Bill Bjork, president of NEA-Alaska, told the Anchorage Daily News that it was his understanding Palin "was clearly not seeking to change the Alaska constitution in that area."

Jake Metcalfe, chairman of the Alaska Democratic Party, accused Palin of flip-flopping, and said, "That's not something a credible, educated candidate makes a mistake on."

Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman suggested Palin's initial answer demonstrates her heartfelt support for more parental control and school choice but she recognizes the potential for legal roadblocks to some of these choices.  "Her follow-up response could have been handled a bit better, avoiding some of the controversy she created", Leman added.

One of the problems is that the AFC questionnaire provided for only a "Yes" or "No" answer.  "It's a complex answer fraught with a lot of history," he told AFC. "

The Constitution

The state constitution in Article 7 provides, 'The legislature shall, by general law, establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children in the state and may provide for other public educational institutions.' "And then it goes on to say, 'Schools and institutions so established shall be free from sectarian control.'

"Then here's the part that causes some to believe a voucher system would not withstand a constitutional challenge: 'But no money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.' "Precedents have been established in Alaska for public resources to provide incidental or indirect benefit; for example, busing of students on the public transit system to Monroe Catholic School in Fairbanks.

Many Alaska parents currently send their children to private schools -- paying thousands of dollars a year out of pocket for educational services, while also helping fund the public schools through local property taxes. Many private schools are an outgrowth of church ministries and are therefore considered religious.

Ideally, a voucher system, or even a tax-incentive program, would allow parents to access some of the funds the state would have spent on a student that attended a public school -- in Alaska that is about $9,000 a year in the urban schools and much higher in rural areas -- to send a student to the school of their choice.

Voucher systems in other states -- Arizona, Florida, Maine, Ohio, Vermont, Utah and Wisconsin -- help students attend private elementary and secondary schools of choice. A report from The Heritage Foundation published this month shows that school choice works.

"Students participating in school choice programs have made academic gains when compared to their peers in public school," the report concludes. "Importantly, public schools that face competition from choice programs have shown improvement."

Leman -- who authored legislation in the mid-1990s to protect homeschooling and also worked on legislation to establish publicly funded charter schools -- defends the right of parents to choose educational options for their kids. Though the state does not currently have a system of vouchers, he said, that doesn't mean the idea should be dismissed.

"If other education delivery systems can produce a better product at a better price," he said, "then we ought to, as a state, be looking very seriously at supporting students who use them."

Whether or not it is constitutional is still up for debate.

"The question is, if you provide a financial benefit to a parent or the student, is that a "direct" benefit (to the institution)?" Leman asked. "Well, all you have to do is check under a comparable federal program. What happens under the GI bill when a person who has served in our military wants to have educational opportunities after he or she gets out of the armed service? That person can take that benefit and apply it to any number of very fine institutions, including those that are privately funded.

"If it's okay for post-secondary education, why shouldn't it be okay for K-12? The same principle is involved. You're not providing the money to the institution -- you're providing it to the family. Indirectly it benefits an educational institution, of course, because it will have more students."

Ultimately such a program would be challenged by those who oppose it and would likely end up before the Alaska Supreme Court.

Leman believes that this Court, as currently constituted, would not rule on the side of the student.  "Even though it makes educational and financial sense, it is my opinion that if Alaska is going to provide financial support like educational vouchers or tax credits that will survive a legal challenge," Leman said, "it would need to be through a constitutional amendment."

The Choice

Currently in the United States, 13 states have various types of school-choice programs including voucher systems and tax-incentive programs for parents of students who attend private or alternative schools. Forty states and the District of Columbia have a system of charter schools. All 50 states allow students to be home schooled.

According to Leman, Alaska has 133,000 kids enrolled in public schools -- some of whom attend charter schools. Although it doesn't have an accurate count, the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development estimates that at least 10,000 more are in various private and home school programs.

Dan Lips, educational analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said a voucher system as an additional educational alternative is a century-old idea.

"Since the 1800s voucher programs have existed in Maine and Vermont," he told AFC, "and the purpose is to provide students in towns with limited access to good public schools the opportunity to attend an alternative public or private school."

A voucher or opportunity scholarship program provides direct subsidies to a student to attend the school of their choice. A tax credit program provides tax incentives for parents who choose to purchase private school tuition.

A voucher system can be designed to allow families to choose a public school out of their normal district that offers a better fit, it can be used to supplement the fees at a private school and it can be used to provide scholarships to low-income families.

"So it's not just trying to get kids out of public education," he said. "It's just more choice within the whole sphere of K-12 education."

For states that have placed constitutional restrictions, he said, the tax incentive approach has proven successful.

The Conclusion

The issue at the heart of all the controversy is simple: the right of parents to exercise control over the education of their children.

Leman cautions voters to evaluate carefully candidates' answers to such a question. Though Palin supports parental rights, Knowles would likely say he does too.

"But his answer means something different from her answer," he said. "His answer would mean, 'As long as it's state-supported and as long as the state has ultimate control.' "

But a true system of choice gives parents the choice for their students.

"I think that if we really open up our concept of what school choice could be," Lips said. "It's really parents having greater ownership over the resources that are spent on their children's education."

FOR MORE INFORMATION: To read the Sept. 18, 2006 Heritage Foundation report on school choice, visit The Heritage Foundation Web site, click here.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: To read the Sept. 18, 2006 Heritage Foundation report on school choice on The Heritage Foundation Web site, click here.

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ALASKA FAMILY COUNCIL GOES PUBLIC AT STATE FAIR
The Alaska Family Council hosted a booth at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer distributing hundreds of Voter Guides and new organizational brochures along with material from Focus on the Family. It was an excellent opportunity to meet face to face with Alaskans from across the state who share our passion for strengthening and protecting families. Their words of encouragement and interest in learning more about the Alaska Family Council were an inspiration.

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TRUTH PROJECT COMES TO ANCHORAGE
In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the Christian world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview.
Because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.
To counter this slide within the body of Christ, Focus on the Family has launched one of its most ambitious and powerful projects in the history of its ministry - The Truth Project®. Coming to Anchorage on December 1st and 2nd , the Truth Project is a DVD-based small group curriculum comprised of 12 one-hour lessons taught by Dr. Del Tackett. This home study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. It is bound to change your life and those you come in contact with. Click here for more information about this life-changing event and to register.

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