Alaska GOP Candidate Slams Anchorage School District for Removing Veterans Day From Official Calendar

Alaska GOP Candidate Criticizes Anchorage School District Over Veterans Day Change

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson sharply criticized the Anchorage School District after the system omitted Veterans Day from its official school calendar and listed the date instead as a "student release professional development day." Wilson called the change "absolutely unacceptable" and tied it to broader concerns about ideological influence in public education.

"There is no doubt a huge effort right now to indoctrinate our kids," Wilson told Fox News Digital. "We see it with how low our kids are dropping in test scores, and then we see it with the forced, woke ideology that's coming from our school districts."

Although Veterans Day did not appear on the district's official calendar, the Anchorage School District posted on social media on Veterans Day expressing gratitude to veterans: "The Anchorage School District extends our deepest gratitude to the veterans in our schools, families, and community for their courage, sacrifice, and dedication," adding that veterans' service "inspire our students every day."

Wilson also noted a recent controversy in which the district attached disclaimers to pamphlets of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence indicating the district "does not endorse" the viewpoints in those documents. The Anchorage School District told the Anchorage Daily News that the disclaimer had been added in error.

Wilson rejected that explanation, telling Fox News Digital the district "doesn't get the luxury" of treating such decisions as mistakes: "It wasn't an accident. They got caught, and that's where this so-called apology comes in." She argued the calendar change and the disclaimer episode reflect broader problems in the district's approach to civic education.

The Anchorage School District did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for additional comment.

Wilson's Education Proposals

As part of her campaign platform, Wilson said she would expand options to "embolden parents" and strengthen schools. She named several possible measures, including Educational Savings Accounts (ESAs), legislation to reduce enrollment wait lines, additional charter-school options, and support for homeschool cooperatives.

Wilson said these policy changes are intended to give families more control and alternatives in how their children are educated.