Sec. 14.43.600. - Findings and intent. - Alaska Statutes

(a) The legislature finds that there is a wide and unacceptable disparity between the distribution of Native teachers and Native students in rural elementary and secondary schools in the state. Many rural schools have virtually no Native teachers and no non-Native students. The undesirable effects of this disparity include the following:

(1) there is a serious weakness in the ability of teaching staffs in rural schools to foster a sense of Native traditions and cultures in the Native students;

(2) many rural students are forced to exist in two entirely separate situations: the essentially traditional atmosphere of many Native homes, and the essentially modern atmosphere of the classroom;

(3) almost no Native students return to rural schools to teach, continuing the imbalance and exacerbating its effects; and

(4) there is an annual turnover of 40 percent among teachers in regional educational attendance areas in the state.

(b) The legislature further finds that existing programs have failed to increase the proportion of Natives teaching in rural schools. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to establish the teacher education loan program to encourage rural high school graduates to return to rural schools as teachers and relieve the conditions described in this section.