RELIABLE EDUCATION VISION

STRONG SCHOOLS. SKILLED WORKERS. STABLE COMMUNITIES.

Education is Alaska’s workforce engine, economic foundation, and strongest long-term investment in public safety, prosperity, and opportunity. My plan treats education as the fundamental state infrastructure it is. 

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  • Expanding access to Pre-K statewide and fully funding early learning helps children start school ready to succeed,  reducing costly remediation later. By using proven, evidence-based literacy strategies and identifying learning gaps early, we get better readers and lower costs later.

  • Stabilizing class sizes, staffing, and core programs helps students learn and gives families confidence that their schools will not be disrupted year to year. Focus on day-to-day school quality and reliability for families who have children in K-12.

  • Higher education should be a real option for any Alaskan student. Expand access to in-state programs and credit so students can start earlier, finish faster, and graduate with less debt. More Alaskans will earn degrees and credentials here and use them to build a life in Alaska.

  • Every student should graduate with a clear next step, whether that is leadership, trades or direct entry into the workforce. With new investment into infrastructure, high-skilled job pathways will be created alongside Alaska’s universities to increase jobs, salaries, and skills.

  • Uncertainty hurts students and drives educators out of Alaska. Forward-funded education budgets allow districts to plan staffing, curriculum, and student services with confidence. The goal is predictability so schools can focus on teaching, not crisis management.

  • Geography should not determine a child’s future. By sharing specialized teachers and services across regions and strengthening rural recruitment and retention strategies, students in remote communities gain the same opportunities as those in urban areas.

  • Keeping teachers in Alaska classrooms strengthens entire communities, and students do better when teachers stay. Restoring a defined-benefit retirement option helps retain experienced educators who are critical to school stability, particularly in small and rural communities.

TOM’S EDUCATION EXPERIENCE

For more than twenty years, Tom has worked on education and youth development, expanding Pre-K, improving literacy, and supporting Alaska schools through bipartisan work in the State Senate.

His approach is shaped by parents, teachers, and students.

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Commercial building with a blue roof, orange accents, and multiple windows, with a muddy parking lot and a white pickup truck in foreground, under cloudy sky.
West Valley High School building with a yellow school bus and parked cars in front, under a blue sky.
Exterior view of Austin E. Lathrop High School with parking lot, trees, and street signs on a sunny day.
Aerial view of a small village in a remote area with many colorful buildings, a river winding through marshland, and a frozen water body in the foreground.
A large building with a black panther logo and the words 'Home of the Wolves' on the front, surrounded by parked vehicles including a bus, trucks, and an older pickup in a rural area with a dirt road and cloudy sky.
Exterior of a Wrangler Motors dealership building with a parked black SUV in front, snow on the ground, and a blue flag near the entrance.
A parking lot with cars in front of a large white building with a mountain range in the background and a cloudy sky with sunlight peeking through.

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF WHAT WE MIGHT ACHIEVE TOGETHER.