[Vision2020] Luna's Reforms Poised to Polarize Idahoans

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (April 1, 2011) Lewiston Tribune.

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Luna's reforms poised to polarize Idahoans

In the spring of 1990, the debate over what was at the time the most
restrictive abortion bill in the nation roiled Idaho and deeply polarized
the state's citizens. But it was nothing like the spring of 2011.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's third and final education
reform bill passed a deeply divided state Senate on Thursday and appears
headed for approval by the House of Representatives and Gov. C.L. (Butch)
Otter. It's hard to find any Idahoan these days without a strong opinion
about the initiative, which eliminates teacher tenure, restricts
bargaining rights, institutes merit pay and anticipates a vast investment
in technology.

Then-Gov. Cecil Andrus' veto of the abortion bill diffused the issue, but
this year's controversy will linger. That's because every school district
in Idaho - and every student, teacher and parent - is going to be affected
by its consequences.

State Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, in debating against Luna's third bill
on Thursday, articulated some of them:

- Consolidation of least-efficient school districts, and that means you,
Magic Valley. The legislation will eventually cut $10.8 million in funding
from schools in seven counties - Twin Falls, Gooding, Lincoln, Shoshone,
Payette, Canyon and Bingham.

- Multi-year reduction in salary-based state funds, which Cameron called
the "most appalling" part of the legislation. "It's not just a one-year
reduction because we need the money this year; it's a multi-year
commitment."

- More power to the superintendent. Cameron said the bill "avoids
transparency at the state level," because, "in many cases this bill puts
the public schools budget on auto pilot." It gives "new authority and
power to expend and distribute funds" to the state superintendent, not the
Legislature.

- Dubious online courses. Cameron said the legislation requires taxpayers
to fund any online courses parents want their students to take, with or
without their school district's approval. There are many courses that
students or parents may want to take, he said, but that doesn't mean
taxpayers should pay for them.

- More entitlements. The three new entitlements Cameron said the bill
creates in state law: online learning, dual credit for early graduates,
and mobile computing devices for all high school teachers and students.

- Unfunded mandates. "... this bill does lock us in and does bind future
legislators," Cameron said. "The bill contains inflators and deflators. It
ties the hands of (the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee) and future
legislators."

- Local control. "This bill lacks flexibility to school districts,"
Cameron said. "All the time it's giving flexibility, it takes money away."

Then there's the matter of committing the Legislature to come up with $38
million the state doesn't have to fund merit pay next year. And the fact
that local school districts will find themselves paying for technology
with money that used to go to teachers.

Finally, there's the issue of class sizes - the major sticking point when
this legislation was first introduced in January. They will almost
certainly go up in many districts.

It's a fair bet that at the moment, at least as many Idahoans oppose the
Luna reform initiative as support it. Wait till next year.

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FYI, Moscow - Senate Bill 1184 (The "Luna Bill", Part 3) is the ninth item
on the State House calendar for third reading.

Stay tuned, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown