Dunleavy appointee to state school board says secular schools OK ‘for now’
Barbara Tyndall of North Pole, named by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to the Alaska State Board of Education, was asked at a confirmation hearing March 20 if she agreed with the three-sentence provision in the Alaska Constitution that sets the standards for public schools.
The Constitution bans using public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or private schools.
Tyndall, who taught for 20 years at North Pole Christian School, said she went to a public school, graduating in Valdez in 1967. Her five kids went to public schools and she home-schooled them at times. She said she accepts that public schools are secular.
“So yeah, I agree with that,” she said to Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson about the language in the Alaska Constitution. “For now.”
“For now,” Gray-Jackson said.
“Well yes, if some, you know if there, if there are changes in the future that’s fine, I can probably go with that too,” Tyndall said.
No one on the Senate Education Committee followed up on Tyndall’s acceptance of the education clause “for now” and the ban on using public funds for private schools. Perhaps they were stunned by her words.
They should have asked the long-time church teacher if she would like to see the Alaska Constitution changed to allow funding for private schools and religious schools.
Had they done so, however, it’s not clear that she would have given a clear explanation of what changes she would like to see, given the way she responded to other questions.
Here is the House confirmation hearing for the Dunleavy education appointees, held the same day.
Tyndall’s Senate testimony began about 53 minute into the hearing. Dunleavy appointed her to the state school board last July, which meant that she would not face a confirmation vote until this year.
She is the representative of the Fourth Judicial District on the board, which has seven voting members, all chosen by the governor. One seat, from the Second Judicial District, has been vacant since March 1.
The House and Senate both heard public testimony on her nomination, but there were no public comments at the hearings.
The Legislature rarely does anything to notify Alaskans about confirmation hearings, which is why there is rarely any public testimony at the hearings.
Testimony on nominees can be sent to legislators at any time.
A joint session to consider all of the Dunleavy nominees over the last year has yet to be scheduled.
Sen. Loki Tobin and Sen. Jesse Kiehl both asked Tyndall at her hearing if she believes the state board has the authority to enact regulations without laws that authorize the proposed regulations.
Tyndall did not answer.
Instead, she said this:
“You know, I’m generally new at the board, on the board as well, and I haven’t delved into all of those things. But whatever the rule of law is, that’s, that’s what it should be, you know.”
Asked by Tobin how she would balance her personal beliefs with public comment, she did not answer.
She said this:
“I think it’s extremely important to listen to everybody, to all sides of things. And I would definitely spend time, the school board should be representing all people. And all, all viewpoints. And so that’s, that’s what I do. We have that place for public testimony. We take notes when we’re doing that. And again this is new to me. I’ve probably had three meetings so far, maybe four. And yeah, it’s very important.”
The education department is one of two in state government in which the board heads the department, not the commissioner. The board hires the commisioner.
Here are the bylaws of the state board of education.
Kiehel asked her about her understanding of the role of the state board in creating regulations, a duty performed in other departments by commissioners.
She did not answer the question.
“And again, I’m new to this board. I actually was rather surprised that, that we, when I was not on the board, I think, I don’t think I understood the governance of this board. Again, I, I’m not really sure of that. And I need to. I have a huge manual here that I’m trying to slog through to find out what and where everything lands. But for the most part I, I again, we listen to everyone and I’m not sure. I guess you’re saying that this board has been overriding Legislature. Or other, I’m not sure what the issue is,” she said.
Kiehl and others asked Tyndall about public testimony she made in 2021 opposing including guidelines about mental health counseling and instruction in state policy. At that time, she said the counseling bill would violate the right to privacy.
As District 3 chair of Republicans in Fairbanks, she sent a resolution to legislators opposing state mental health standards and counseling in 2021, saying it should be left to local school districts. Here is what she sent to legislators.
Tyndall and her fellow Republicans said they opposed “embedding mental health workers and resources into Alaskan schools.”
On April 16, 2021, she testified that mental health of students is a matter for parents, families and communities, not the state.
“For the state to be mandating anything into our education system and our personal lives in such a way is just wrong. And it will eventually, I believe, they will attempt to make this a mandate. And so it should be, this should be a local thing. Our parents and I’m strongly say that parents need to be totally involved in any mental health issues with their children. And I don’t see those corrections there. But I think it should be, I really believe that this is a local community and family issue that should be addressed there by local school boards and parents and the community members,” Tyndall said.
The only requirement in the 2021 bill was to have the Alaska State Board of Education update guidelines to include instruction in mental health. The proposal, House Bill 60, did not pass.
Tyndall is now the chairwoman of the committee on the Alaska State Board of Education responsible for the well-being and safety for students.
There is another bill this year on requiring the state board to adopt state standards on mental health counseling, Senate Bill 24.
That bill passed the Senate 15-4 March 6 and is pending in the House.
Tyndall contradicted herself about mental health standards during the House hearing March 20 as well as on the nature of her testimony three years ago. As on most other topics, she said she was not up to speed on the matter.
She said at one point she hadn’t seen the bill, but would look at it and “move it forward.” Moments later she said, “Again, I’m not opposed to mental health. I’m not sure if it belongs in the schools. Perhaps that’s something that families should be looking for outside of the school. But I’m looking at it closely.”
Tyndall said she did not remember the exact comments she made in 2021, but she thought it had to do with schools giving counseling without parental consent. Her remarks three years ago went far beyond what she now remembers.
Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, a retired teacher, asked Tyndall to think of students whose families don’t recognize situations that need counseling or have the resources. She mentioned how an elementary school counselor recently dealt with two families in crisis—in one case a child attempted suicide and in one case a child expressed ideas about suicide.
In 2022, Tyndall wrote to legislators to falsely claim that Critical Race Theory was being taught in Alaska schools.
“For far too long, our schools have been used as propaganda machines to indoctrinate our children on CRT; to the exclusion of all other viewpoints,” Tyndall wrote. Here is her letter backing a bill by Sen. Lora Reinbold, “An act relating to transparency and compelled speech in education.”
Reinbold’s bill, which failed, proposed making it illegal to talk about certain things in school, without giving specifics. It was likely one of her unconstitutional proposals. She wanted to make it illegal to force a student or teacher to believe certain things about racism or sexism.
Tyndall said the bill to mean that it would prevent Critical Race Theory, which she claimed was being taught. “It is no wonder Alaska schools are so far behind in teaching the basics, such as reading,” she said.
Tyndall testified in support of Reinbold’s bill, claiming that “what is often being taught today is the Critical Race Theory, which among other things, teaches students to believe that America is basically racist or sexist. It also teaches that we are inherently racist because of the color of our skin. And it tells even our very young children that they are either a victim or an oppressor, also determined by skin color.”
“These are just some of the aspects of Critical Race Theory that is so onerous and so really demeaning to our children,” she said. “And SB 196 protects our children from hating each other based on race, ethnicity or religion. And it promotes a healthy respect for all races. And removes the stigma that CRT imposes. I’m speaking very strongly in favor of this bill, which would protect us.”
She said children and families need protection from “objectionable and harmful ideologies.”
At the confirmation hearing in the House, Himschoot asked Tyndall what experience she based her claims that Alaska children have been indoctrinated in school with Critical Race Theory.ll.
Tyndall did not answer Himschoot’s question or mention how Alaska children are being indoctrinated with harmful and objectionable ideologies.
Instead, she said this:
“I have been involved personally with my own children, with my grandchildren, with many of the children in my community who have felt that the school was not adequately meeting the needs of children, they were, going off in other directions, doing other things.
“I remember, it’s been some years now, I had a former teacher of mine who was telling me in the school system, I think she was teaching sixth grade, and she was very frustrated by the things coming into the school taking away class time.”
“There was this program, that program. They weren’t necessarily things that were objectionable to people. But she kept track for three years of her actual teaching time and she averaged an hour-and-a-half a day. And so a lot of these other programs that come in, that might be ‘Sea Week,” it might be whatever, they might be very good things.”
“But my, my contention was that we need to stick to education and we need to give teachers adequate time and not overburden them with all these other things that come, come down, that other agencies or people want to do this program or that program. And make sure that it is addressing the educational needs of our kids.”
Tyndall did not mention Critical Race Theory in her confirmation hearings, though she talked about it at length two years ago. She did not back up her claim that 90 minutes of every school day are dedicated to extraneous activities. She did not explain her opposition to mental health counseling in school. She did not show any awareness that the state board controls the education department. And she did not explain what she meant by saying she supports the Alaska Constitution language on education “for now.”
If confirmed by the Legislaure, she will be on the Alaska State Board of Education until March 1, 2028.
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