GAL's School Board Recap: Seat G Jacobs vs. Vakalis
Growing Alaskan Leaders (Gal's) hosted an organized, informative, and well-executed Anchorage School Board Candidate Forum on Sunday.
One of the most hotly contested school board seats is Seat G. Five candidates initially filed to run for the seat. Still, with the withdrawal of three candidates — Daughtery, Blewett, and Nees — only Carl Jacobs and Elisa Vakalis remain, making this a two-way race.
Jacobs' opponent Elisa Vakalis, who is running as the incumbent for Seat G, was mentioned in a Must Read Alaska column written last November by ultra-conservative former Alaska Lt. Governor Craig Campbell. Campbell wrote that Valkalis's seat is one of four "that can be filled with people who embrace a conservative, liberty-based education curriculum."
Ms. Vakalis admitted at last evening's Gal's Candidate forum that there have been times when she has not stepped up high enough or loud enough to advocate for the "right reasons" for students and said that she "lost sight of the kids sometimes."
It might be time for a fresh perspective in the form of a tireless advocate for children to be elected to the Anchorage School Board — someone who isn't seen as a loyalist to the ASD superintendent and who won't self-admit to losing sight of children.
Enter Mr. Carl Jacobs, "Your Voice for Positive Change"
The Anchorage Education Association, Alaska AFL-CIO, Anchorage Central Labor Council, March on Alaska, and Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest have endorsed Carl Jacobs. He's also been endorsed by current and former school board members, including Harriet Drummond, Tam Agosti-Gisler, Andy Holleman, Jake Metcalfe, and Deena Mitchell. Multiple sitting legislators and Assembly members have endorsed Mr. Jacobs in addition to community leaders like Celeste Hodge Growden, Maryann Ganacias, Lucy Hansen, Ed Wesley, and others.
In his introduction last evening, Jacobs said he had spent much of his professional career protecting and serving vulnerable seniors and children. Over the past decade, Jacobs has served as a therapeutic foster parent in Alaska, fostering approximately 40 children, and says it has been "a blessing to experience the diversity of our state." Jacobs also said he's looking forward to "bringing leadership and increased community engagement to the school board," which he believes will help with many issues the school board will need to address in the coming years.
When asked what he believes the role of the school board should be, Jacobs said in part that "the leadership on the board has at times not been where the community would ask of it to be" and suggested that board members need to increase their level of engagement with families and the community even after board work sessions and official meetings end. Jacobs said he sees that need as "critical."
Jacobs also said that holding the district administration accountable for its successes as well as the things it needs to improve on definitely needs to occur and something the district needed to improve upon.
One of Jacobs' top priorities, if elected to the school board, is to "facilitate academic equity and minimize the gaps in both student achievement and graduation rates caused by disability and economic distress" and says data indicates that children of color were disproportionately affected by the switch to a distance learning curriculum caused by COVID-19 and that those trends deserve additional research and an ongoing, solutions-based dialogue. "We simply must do better for all of our children regardless of their racial or economic background," says Jacobs.
In a lightning round session asking candidates to give a thumbs up or down on ten different questions, Jacobs gave the first sideways thumb of the evening when he responded to a question that asked whether the School Resource Officer Program was "functional, equitable and effective as it currently operates."
I reached out to Mr. Jacobs and asked if he'd like to explain his sideways thumb response to the School Resource Officer Program question. Jacobs responded with a statement:
"Ensuring the safety of schools and the community should always be a priority for the Anchorage School District. School safety can only be achieved through a comprehensive approach that addresses behavioral health, developmental needs, and enforcement. The current program aims to achieve the goal of safety but only invests in one of those components, placing an unfair burden on the officers involved and leaving dire student needs unmet by neglecting the mental health and behavioral support necessary to curb inappropriate behavior. If we were to evaluate the program based on measurable metrics, the data would bear that out, especially when students are given a chance to weigh in. I support and have called for the necessary action to collect this data to make informed decisions about how to ensure our school safety programs can become comprehensive and maximally effective."
Jacob's sideways thumb, by the way, would later be picked up and used by other candidates. (Sentences you never thought you'd write).
During a question segment in which candidates were asked to write the first word or phrase that came to mind in response to the term "LGBTQ12S+ Inclusion," an acronym that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, or Questioning and Two-Spirit, Jacobs wrote the word "important," underscored by a very pronounced underline.
Overall, Jacobs' performance at the school board candidate forum appeared to be realistic, honest, practical, inclusive, measured, and at times candid. His statements regarding equality and equity are sure to appeal to those who are looking for an inclusive candidate committed to tirelessly working for all students and educators.
You can learn more about Carl Jacobs on his website and his Facebook candidate page.
