The relatively recent educational fad of stratifying students strictly by age has not proven to enhance educational performance, and may have been detrimental.

On the contrary, having older, highly motivated students in a classroom has had a consistently helpful impact on classrooms. When the World War II veterans came back from the war and returned to school, American higher education took a quantitative leap in quality.

Including older Alaskans in high schools will provide Alaskan adults with an opportunity to finish their secondary education in a way that is far superior to a General Education Development (GED) test or a community college that may be located in a distant community. Finishing high school is obviously a significant advantage to most people in Alaska.

Access to high school education by older Alaskans in local high schools will likely raise objections on two fronts:

1) Objection: Older students will victimize younger students.

Response: School districts will be able to reject students with criminal convictions and take discipline measures on inappropriate conduct. The motivated older students will almost always protect and encourage the younger students.

2) Objection: There will be a significant increase in the foundation formula costs due to the increased number of students in high school.

Response: Not many adults will be so desirous of a high school degree that they will be willing to sit through high school classes; many adults also work during the day and could not attend classes. Furthermore, educating in the high school will also reduce the cost of remedial education in the college and university systems.

Several Alaskan school districts are presently integrating adults into their secondary schools with excellent results. This bill will require all districts to provide this service.