"We do not want to just teach what's on the national test so that our score sound good on the news."
How do you gauge learning without some type of test that can compare students within and outside of AK?  How is a college supposed to evaluate the value of an A from an AK school when some teachers are giving A's just because the item got turned in, regardless of punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc.? Standardized tests aren't perfect, but what part of them tests something that is not worth teaching, knowing, or testing? As for pay increases, I suspect that the number of people who have NOT had pay increases in the last few years is higher than the number who have.  In almost all government sectors (Federal, state, local) people are having to do more with less.  I am not saying it is right.  It is just a fact of life right now.