Knowles blasts No Child Left Behind policy

Former Gov. Tony Knowles came to the Juneau Chamber of Commerce Thursday to talk about education and health care, but couldn't fail to reaffirm his support for local projects such as the Kensington Mine, the road and a north Douglas crossing, as well.

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On his campaign trip to Juneau, he said his kids are supporting his bid for a third term as governor, but they might have ulterior motives.

"They want to get back to Juneau. They don't care whether I'm governor or not," Knowles said.

In Knowles' eight years as governor in Juneau, he made a lot of local connections, and both he and his campaign issues of promoting education and health care got a strong response from the crowd.

Knowles said Alaska needs a better school system than it now has.

"We can have, we should have, the best education system in America," he said.

Improving education also will save the state money elsewhere, he said.

"You want less jails, let's have better schools," he said.

The failures of education aren't in its dedicated teachers or caring parents, he said, but children need to arrive in school ready to learn. He advocated more and better pre-kindergarten programs to help children get a running start in school.

Knowles Republican opponent, Sarah Palin, supports strong pre-kindergarten programs, but doesn't see an expanded role for the state there, said Curtis Smith, spokesman for the Palin campaign.

"How is pre-K going to be made better by the fact that government is paying for it? Pre-K exists now, and it's a wonderful option, but it needs to be a parental option," he said. "Sarah thinks its working just fine now."

Knowles said the federal No Child Left Behind law is actually hurting education by prompting schools to "teach to the test" instead of giving children the well-rounded education they need.

That gives schools some bad incentives, he said, including rating schools higher if their marginal students leave rather than complete their education.

"Something terribly wrong is happening in our school system," he said.

It's not the fault of the teachers or parents, he said.

Alaska has a need for many skilled employees, including nurses, teachers and others, and should be expanding vocational and university programs in those areas.

"We should be training them here," he said.

Smith of the Palin campaign said it was irresponsible to talk about new programs without talking about how to pay for them.

"Nobody's more famous for introducing new programs that he's not going to be able to pay for than Tony Knowles," he said.

Knowles said he would start by re-prioritizing the budget.

"It's just a matter of priorities," he said. "I can't help but think we can put a priority on education."

Knowles also advocated strengthening health care by expanding Denali KidCare, making sure all kids with working parents can get health care, and bargaining with pharmaceutical companies for better deals on prescription drugs.

Knowles also reaffirmed his support for several key issues of interest to Juneau chamber members. Support for the Kensington Mine, the road north of town and a north Douglas crossing all remain important to him and the area, he said.

He called Kensington "an outstanding project" that offered "good union jobs."

That got a cheer from the audience, led by union representative Tom Brice, representing laborers and public employees.