Mike Hanley has served as Commissioner for the Department of Education and Early Development since 2011. In that time, he has defended maintaining Mt. Edgecumbe High School. (Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)
Mike Hanley will be stepping down as Alaska’s education commissioner. Governor Bill Walker announced the change in leadership in a press release this morning.
Commissioner Mike Hanley’s departure comes at a critical time for Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the state run boarding school in Sitka. The Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, or ANSEP, is interested in piloting an accelerated high school on the campus. As details of that proposed takeover unfold, Mt. Edgecumbe administration was looking to Hanley as one of their defenders.
Commissioner Mike Hanley has a history of standing by Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
Last spring, when the House Education Finance Committee began asking whether the state could still afford the boarding school – which, as a residential program, costs the state about $4.7 million – Hanley ultimately defended keeping Edgecumbe as is.
Speaking with KCAW at that time, he said, “I surely hope that there’s not across our legislature that there’s not support to get rid of Mt. Edgecumbe. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
And last week (01-27-16), when the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program, or ANSEP, proposed taking over Edgecumbe facility, Hanley rushed to Edgecumbe’s defense. “Here’s a program [Edgecumbe] that has a proven track record with all the attributes and strengths in place, that [ANSEP] felt they would like to take over.”
ASNEP was founded by Dr. Herb Schroeder in 1995. Schroeder spoke briefly with Hanley prior to his presentation to the House Education Committee and laid out his plan. Schroeder wants to adapt ANSEP’s largely STEM-focused summer program into a 3-year boarding school that would feed students into the University of Alaska system.
Speaking with KCAW on Monday (01-01-16), Hanley expressed support for both programs and was disinclined to allow one to take over another. “I love Mt. Edgecumbe and ANSEP is another great program in the state. We have supported them for a long time. I think it’s fair to say there’s definitely a need to increase STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) protocols, but I also see there’s a definite need for high quality residential schools that allow students to go in all kinds of directions, not just STEM fields.”
ANSEP has recently clarified that its high school would also offer tracks in psychology, elementary education, and business management.
Yesterday, the Board of Regents and University of Alaska Administration issued a statement saying they did not have a hand in generating the proposal. Their statement also expressed concern that idea wasn’t “rigorously reviewed” by the Department of Education and Early Development, which Hanley led.
Bill Hutton, the Superintendent of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, called Hanley “an outstanding human being” and said that his dismissal is hard news to swallow. “He’s been a big fan and a big supporter and made that known around the political hil. That’s really important to us, with a man of that stature really supporting Edgecumbe. I’m not presupposing that the next person is not, I’m just saying that he has been outstanding in his support of Mt. Edgecumbe High School.”
Dr. Susan McCauley will take over as interim Commissioner on March 1st. In light of the turnover, Hutton said “We’ll swing with the change and do the best we can.”
