The unlicensed "plumber" is the GOP's roll model. Don't educate yourself, hate your government and don't pay taxes, that's the formula to be a fine American patriot. In the great state of Alaska you find this fine breed of pure Republicans in double amount. Part of the issue, according to University of Alaska president Mark Hamilton, is cultural. Parents and families are not valuing education. They need to realize even skilled labor fields, like plumbing or construction, require training that depends on knowledge, such as math, learned in high school.
Among the grim statistics:
• Alaska's dropout rate, at 8 percent, was double the national average in the 2005-2006 school year, according to the latest figures available from the U.S. Department of Education.
• 38 percent of today's ninth-graders will have no high school diploma 10 years from now, according to the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education.
• Alaska ranks 50th, or last, in the number of ninth-graders who will likely have a bachelor's degree in 10 years, according to the commission.
Source: Alaska Daily News
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