NEA-Alaska Supports Murkowski for U.S. Senate; Crawford for U.S House

Candidates share goal of making public education a priority

NEA-Alaska today announced endorsement of incumbent U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and State Representative Harry Crawford as candidate for U.S. House of Representatives. As the largest union in Alaska, the 57-member Political Action Committee for Education (PACE) pledged their support by an overwhelming vote. The NEA-Alaska PACE committee represent public school employees from Ketchikan to Kaktovik.

“Senator Murkowski has the experience and the proven effectiveness when it comes to K-12 public education issues in Alaska,”  said NEA-Alaska President Barb Angaiak.  “The Senator has worked tirelessly on education issues and is a valuable asset in our nation’s capitol, promoting educational accountability and securing the resources needed to educate the children of Alaska.  The members of NEA-Alaska PACE take great pride in recommending Senator Murkowski for another term in the United States Senate."

On the federal level, NEA-Alaska has a number of critical issues including the need for increased flexibility and funding for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, repeal of Social Security Offsets, and the need for teacher housing in rural Alaska.

“State Representative Crawford has worked in Juneau for the past 10 years to ensure school funding does not lose ground to inflation,” said President Angaiak.  “Crawford fought to prevent the dismantling of Alaska’s retirement system and he understands the need to repeal the damaging Social Security Offsets that impact Alaska retirees.  Congressman Young has not been a leader on education issues and our members feel the time for change is now in the U.S .House.”

NEA-Alaska is a diverse organization of teachers, certificated staff, education support professionals (ESPs), retired members, and students training to become teachers.  With almost 13,000 members, NEA-Alaska is a democratic, grass roots organization that promotes high standards of excellence in education for the children of Alaska through support of public school employees. Approximately 67 local associations in school districts across the state are affiliated with NEA-Alaska, which is the state affiliate of the 3.2 million member National Education Association, headquartered in Washington, D.C. ###