Chugiak Constituent and Daughter Start Homegrown Effort to Make Sure School Kids Don’t Go Hungry

Juneau – Propelled by her daughter’s personal experience in the first grade, a Chugiak resident and her daughter have pioneered an effort to make sure school kids in Alaska are able to have breakfast and lunch at school. In a period of four years, the Dare to Care school lunch program, a 501(c)3 nonprofit started by Bettsie Wild, has grown from buying school lunches for 35 kids to 1,300 in Anchorage, Eagle River, Chugiak, Wasilla and Palmer.

“When my daughter, Lena Wild, was in the first grade, she started sharing her sack lunch with another little girl who didn’t have a lunch,” said Wild. “I sent more lunch with her, but after awhile, she was bringing it back home, because the school would not allow her to share, because some kids have food allergies. As a result, we started anonymously paying for school lunches, and that has grown from 35 the first year to 1,300 now.”

Wild said her program has expanded to cover breakfast, as well as lunch, and picks up kids who fall through the cracks and are not able to qualify for the federally-funded school lunch and breakfast program. Since December 2008, she also hosts anti-bullying assemblies in schools statewide.

“I commend Bettsie and her daughter on their foresighted, good-citizen approach to solving a problem they personally found in the public schools,” said Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River. “It was heartening to hear their story, and that they took the personal initiative to do something about kids who go to school hungry.”

“It’s a story that is good for all of us on how you can take initiative based on seeing something that just isn’t right,” said Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla. “When you think about it, Bettsie could have looked the other way, but she said this is a greater cause than just our school, and now her family is helping to feed up to 1,300 kids between Anchorage, Eagle River, Chugiak and the Valley.”

Wild said that, although her Dare to Care program is privately-funded, she supports passage of SB 213, which would provide a state match for the federal school lunch program.

Poll Shows Alaskans Support Keeping Exit Exam by 3-1 Margin

Juneau – A recent Dittman public opinion poll commissioned by Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage, shows that 74 percent of Alaskans support keeping the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam, also known as the exit exam. Currently there is a bill in the Legislature that would repeal the exit exam.

Bunde, who authored the original exit exam language when it was passed into law in 1997, said the Dittman poll results clearly indicate that the public still supports the exam as a way to ensure that possessing a high school diploma means graduates can demonstrate basic competency in reading, writing and arithmetic.

“Currently in the Senate, there is, in my view, a misguided effort to do away with the high school graduation qualifying exam. This poll shows that three-quarters of the people of Alaska do not want it to go away,” Bunde said. “That’s a pretty substantial level of support.”

Bunde said the idea to do away with the test is rooted in a well-intended push by some groups representing students who have had a difficult time passing the exam.

“Last year there were 8,008 graduates who passed the exit exam and received a high school diploma. At the same time there were 270 high school seniors who were unable to pass the exit exam, and therefore received a certificate of attendance,” Bunde said. “So, the question is, should we dilute the value of the diploma for the thousands who passed it just to accommodate the few who do not? I don’t think we should, and clearly, almost three-quarters of the Alaska public don’t think we should, either.”

The Dittman poll was conducted February 9-22, 2010. The bill to repeal the exit exam, SB 109, recently passed out of the Senate Education and the Community and Regional Affairs committees and is currently sitting in the Senate Finance Committee.

Dyson Introduces Bill to Name Elmendorf AFB Fish Hatchery – In Honor of Bill Hernandez, Alaskan Fish Rearing Pioneer

JUNEAU – Senator Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, has introduced legislation to recognize long-time fish hatchery and fish-rearing pioneer William Jack (Bill) Hernandez by naming the state’s sport fish hatchery on Elmendorf AFB in his honor. Hernandez, who worked in fish hatchery, rearing and habitat projects at Ft. Richardson and Elmendorf for 28 years, passed away in 2003 at age 83.

Hernandez was a WWII civilian POW, having been captured by the Japanese at the fall of Wake Island in December 1941, where he was building fortifications for the USMC. He was held for the next three years at various POW camps in China. In 1947, Hernandez enlisted in the US Army, and in 1956 he was posted at Ft. Richardson, where he served as a fish and wildlife conservation NCO. Over the next 28 years, he worked with various federal and state agencies to develop and build hatchery programs, stocking local streams with Rainbow Trout, and Chinook and Coho Salmon.

“Without a doubt, Bill Hernandez was more responsible than any other single person for the hatchery programs on Elmendorf and Ft. Richardson,” said Dyson. “He faced many difficult challenges in building these programs, and every sport fisher in the Anchorage Bowl benefits today from the hard work he put in decades ago. I can’t think of a more appropriate Alaskan to name the Elmendorf hatchery after.”

The bill, SB 274, was referred to the Resources Committee.

Senate Republican Caucus Responds to Governor’s Goals in Supplemental Budget

Juneau – Members of the Senate Republican Caucus today expressed their support for many of the goals contained within Governor Sean Parnell’s FY2010 supplemental budget released today while recognizing room for increased savings and encouraging a more long-term view of state budget surpluses.

Among other spending requests, the supplemental budget bill would finish repaying the Constitutional Budget Reserve, forward-fund K-12 education for FY2011, and, in a separate bill, ask for an additional $100 million for deferred maintenance projects.

“While I recognize the importance of addressing some of the pressing needs outlined in the Governor’s supplemental budget, I strongly encourage that any spending proposals based on using a budget surplus, in this or any other year, look at that ’surplus’ in the context of a three- or five-year spending plan,” said Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage. “I think the question of whether or not it is truly a ‘surplus’ – if it is sandwiched between two or four years of deficit or even flat spending – is one we should be asking ourselves more often.”

Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River, said he is concerned about the rising cost of formula-driven spending. “I recognize that programs such as Medicaid are expanding in numbers of users, and that is reflected in the $44 million requested for formula programs. I note that the Governor did not request funding for an increase in eligibility for Denali KidCare because the bill to do so has not passed. While he and I disagree on expanding the program from 175 to 200 percent of poverty level, he may be amenable to making such an increase contingent on having a budget surplus.”

Sen. Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai, said he would support the deferred maintenance bill and expects the projects included in it to be in the public’s interest. “It makes a lot of sense to get funding approved for projects that can go to contract this spring. At the same time, the Governor needs to take another look at his $75 million request for a new crime lab, which we don’t need. That project should be on the deferred maintenance list, and the existing crime lab should be remodeled and expanded at a much lower cost, not the current $75 million projected for a new lab.”

Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, agreed that the Governor’s first priority should be saving surplus dollars. “I support the Governor’s request to return the $402 million to the CBR that we have borrowed over the lean years. That is what the CBR is there for. I also support any efforts to park more of the surplus in the statutory budget reserve. While that reserve is accessible with only a majority vote, it shows good faith and statesmanship on the part of legislators and the Governor to set the surplus aside. We anticipate more lean years for Alaska, with the Trans Alaska Pipeline dropping in through-put by six percent or more a year. Alaska’s leaders have done a good job in the past of saving for future generations – through the Permanent Fund, the CBR, and other set-asides – and I think we need to continue with that attitude.”