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Dear Fine Arts Camp Supporters,
I ask you to take the time today to write our state legislators and speak out against the cuts to education. See sidebar for details.
Our organization is not a political organization. As an organization, we don't take sides. We don't endorse candidates. We respect and appreciate that our students bring many different perspectives and views to the Camp, and we relish this. However, at the Camp we have one core purpose that our mission is built around: to help kids succeed. On Thursday last week, our State Senate passed a budget with extreme cuts ($79.7 million) in education that directly harm Alaska students' ability to succeed. This will also harm the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. For example, SFAC's performance home may be closed because of these cuts. As a result, we feel, as an organization, the need to take a stand.
Below is the letter I sent last night. I have also included a letter written by Lon Garrison, a member of our state school board who advocates tirelessly in Juneau for the benefit of Alaska's kids' educations.
Please join us in supporting the education of Alaska's kids.
Sincerely, Roger Schmidt Director, Sitka Fine Arts Camp ______
Dear Legislators:
I am writing to express my concern with education cuts in the state budget and ask that they be reversed to avoid causing the worst long-term harm to our dear state. In a time of budget crises the most short-sighted cut is to the one with the most long-term negative consequences. In this case, I am referring to our constitutional mandate and requirement and obligation to provide Alaskan children with the highest quality education. Education is the deepest investment and the investment with the greatest return to our state. Our public education system has been underfunded and under performing for years. A lack of education in Alaska leads to a lack of innovation to solving today and tomorrow's problems. The ability of our government, business, and other leaders to solve complex problems and to avoid problems are related directly to the quality of education our leaders get. It is at school where our future leaders learn to reason, to analyze. Here, they are exposed to complex ideas and begin to gain an understanding of local and global solutions.
Our most expensive social problems are result of poor education resulting in poor health (health care costs), crime (damage of property and incarceration), domestic violence and other violence (destruction of community).
Please do not cut the education funding of Alaska. This is the path to creating the greatest harm to the future of our state.
Roger Schmidt
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Dear Parents and community members,
Education in Alaska and in particular in Sitka is facing its greatest fiscal challenge ever. With the looming $3.5 billion shortfall in the state budget, the Alaska Legislature is slashing spending and education is taking a big hit. Late last week, the Senate Finance Committee at the very last moment adopted an amendment to their operating budget proposal that cut the Base Student Allocation (BSA) by 4.1% or $200 per student. For Sitka this equates to a cut of $671,000! This budget cut was never proposed prior to its adoption and there was no opportunity for public input. The Senate has since voted to adopt the operating budget as proposed which includes a total of $79.7 million cut from education funding that was promised last year with the passage of HB278.
What does this mean for Sitka? It means we now face a budget shortfall of nearly $3.4 million and it means that facilities such as the Performing Arts Center at the high school are in jeopardy. It means that art and music as we know it in our community and in our schools could be negatively impacted. It means we need your help in convincing the Alaska Legislature that the cut to the BSA is too much! Every school district in the state will be affected but more importantly every student in this state will have a reduced chance to receive a high quality education which should include the arts. The Sitka School Board will be meeting on Tuesday night April 7th at 7:00 pm to establish the FY2016 budget in first reading and then again for a final budget hearing on April 15th. Our focus will be to protect our critical teachers and programs but that may mean that facilities and programs not directly tied to the classroom may be reduced or eliminated. It also means the district may have to lay off anywhere from 3 to 10 teachers. It breaks my heart to think of those possibilities.
You can help to make a difference. We are asking parents, community members and the business community to speak out and tell the legislature that the proposed cut to the BSA is too much. That it should remain untouched. The Operating Budget will now go to conference committee where the House and the Senate will work out a compromise for a solution. Now is your final chance to make a difference. Time is of the essence! Call or email every Alaska Legislator and let them know your opinion. Tell them to keep the BSA unchanged. Tell them to "Keep the Promise" of HB278!
To reach each legislator email GOV.AllLegislators@alaska.gov
To specifically reach the House & Senate Leadership call or email these people:
Speaker of the House, Mike Chenault: Representative. Mike.Chenault@akleg.gov 800-469-3779
Senate President, Kevin Meyer: Senator. Kevin.Meyer@akleg.gov 866-465-4945
Most sincerely yours,
Lon Garrison
President, Sitka School Board
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Please make your voice heard. See the sidebar for more details on how to get involved. | 
