Michael Moore Argues Election Financing Distorts ASD Leadership

Michael Moore Argues Election Financing Distorts ASD Leadership

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In a column for the Anchorage Daily News, Michael Moore argues that the Anchorage School District needs district-specific representation to rebuild community trust.

The Anchorage School District faces two urgent problems, according to the column published by the Anchorage Daily News. The district has lost community trust, and many parents have sought non-ASD alternatives because of differences in ideology, curriculum decisions, and approaches to student behavior.

Declining enrollment and rising operating costs have driven decisions to close schools. Moore, who is retired after teaching in Alaska public schools for 30 years, writes that election financing is the main reason behind the ideological shift on the school board.

Running and serving on the school board is hard work, but members often belong to Anchorage’s perpetual political class. Leadership on the board mixes individuals who rotate between leadership positions in the school district, the Anchorage Assembly, the National Education Association, the Anchorage Education Association, and various nonprofits.

Election financing shows that individuals closely aligned with these groups receive magnitudes greater financial and logistical support than nonaligned candidates. The NEA and AEA back individuals who need no persuading toward their point of view, which Moore describes as corporate malpractice not to do.

Michael Moore Argues Election Financing Distorts ASD Leadership

Current board support is not distributed equally or equitably across Anchorage. Inlet View received a new school with funding voters approved in 2024 after rejecting an earlier bond package in 2022.

In contrast, the school board proposed shuttering Campbell STEM, Lake Otis, and Fire Lake elementary schools under its February 2026 blueprint. That plan also involved repurposing the Fire Lake and Lake Otis buildings for charter schools.

Specific area representation on the board will not make a massive difference, Moore writes, but it is at best a small step forward for a future where the school district is trusted and considered a great choice by all residents. Ultimately, this change ensures that advocacy organizations must exert extra effort to find and back their preferred contender.

Worth a look

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