[Vision2020] Blackfoot School District

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of KHQ

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Associated Press - April 22, 2011 3:24 PM ET

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (AP) - A school district in eastern Idaho plans to use a
lottery system as a last resort to determine layoffs should budget cuts
require leaner staffing.

The Blackfoot School District revised its policy for reductions in force
this month in response to a new Idaho law that says teachers with
seniority are no longer the last to go when administrators are forced to
make layoffs. Public schools chief Tom Luna pushed for the change during
the 2011 session and argued that districts, in response to state budget
cuts, were being forced to fire some of their best and brightest teachers
simply because they were the last employees hired.

Luna is including a provision to eliminate seniority as a factor during
these decisions as part of his sweeping education reforms, which phase out
tenure for teachers and limit their collective bargaining while shifting
money for salaries in the public schools budget to fund technology
upgrades and a new merit pay plan.

In Blackfoot, school district superintendent Scott Crane is working to
alleviate concerns over the lottery provision in the new policy on
reductions in force.

"I would like to assure the community, patrons, and educators that the
draconian implications, rumors, and misinformation that the school
district's reduction in force policy would be based on an indiscriminately
comprehensive lottery system are ludicrous," Crane said.

The Idaho State Journal reports that under the revised policy, teachers on
probation or with unsatisfactory performance would be among the first let
go if there are budget-driven layoffs. Teachers would then be ranked, with
a priority on keeping those who have multiple degrees, teaching
endorsements and are ranked highly qualified in more than one subject.

And finally, if more layoffs are required to help balance the school
district's budget, a lottery system would be used to determine who among
the remaining pool of teachers is let go.

Information from: Idaho State Journal:

http://www.journalnet.com

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Dreys round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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

 - Unknown