[Vision2020] Idaho panel unveils education overhaul

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (August 24, 2013) Lewiston Tribune.

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Idaho panel unveils education overhaul
Boost in teacher pay among the proposals put forth by task force appointed by Gov. Otter
A gubernatorial task force recommended a major revamp of Idaho's public school system Friday, although one member worried the high cost of the proposals could "bust the bank."
Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter formed the Idaho Task Force for Improving Education at the end of 2012, shortly after voters defeated the Students Come First education overhaul.
Led by State Board of Education Chairman Richard Westerberg, the group spent the past eight months focusing on what type of improvements will be needed so that 60 percent of Idahoans age 25-34 have at least one year of post-secondary education by 2020 - a goal that's considered essential to maintaining the state's workforce and economy.
The nearly two dozen recommendations approved by the task force during its meeting Friday in Boise include restoring $82.5 million in operating funds lost over the past five years, as well as shifting to a "career ladder" compensation model that could boost state funding for teacher salaries by nearly $254 million over six years.
Although both recommendations were approved unanimously, Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, suggested the Legislature may need some convincing before it embraces the plan.
"You're trying to address the fiscal instability from the school district perspective, but you also need to consider the instability of state funding," he said. "There's a tremendous potential here to bust the bank due to undeserved upward mobility. When you present this to the Legislature, you need to have an answer to that question."
The current salary system distributes state funding to the districts based on a teacher's years of service and education level. The result is a salary grid with 98 squares.
The task force recommended replacing that with a 13-square system that substantially increases state funding, while simultaneously tying a teacher's placement on the grid to performance-based measures such as their annual evaluation and certification level.
Meridian School District Superintendent Linda Clark said the recommendation is to embrace the career ladder as a framework for improving teacher salaries, but noted many details still need to be worked out.
Nevertheless, the specific example presented to the task force would raise minimum teacher salaries from the current $31,000 per year to $40,000 over six years. The maximum state reimbursement would jump from $46,539 to $58,000, although a teacher's actual salary would continue to be set by the local district.
This plan would increase state funding for teacher salaries by more than $42 million per year, or $254 million over six years.
"We're trying to incentivize people to enter the profession and retain our best and brightest teachers," said retired teacher and Idaho Rep. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise. "The most important factor in student achievement is having a highly skilled and effective teacher in the classroom. The goal here is to keep them there."
Goedde worried teachers would progress up the career ladder based solely on years of experience, rather than their skill and effectiveness. This "unwarranted upward mobility" could result in the state paying more for salaries, without a corresponding increase in performance.
Exactly what criteria would be used to determine movement on the ladder is one of the details that still needs to be worked out, Clark said, but the intent is to improve accountability and tie movement to student achievement.
In other business Friday:
The task force approved a recommendation shifting from a "time-based" system - where students advance from grade to grade based on the number of instructional hours they receive - to a "mastery based" system, where each student advances at their own pace as they demonstrate a grasp of the material.
"I hope you all fathom the positive impact this will have," said House Education Committee Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle. "This is really transformative in nature ... The concept of 'third grade' goes away."
The task force endorsed Idaho's new common core standards as "an essential component of high-performing schools."
Common core standards are a set of math and English standards intended to raise the bar on student achievement and provide a common measuring stick for school districts to compare their performance not only within the state, but nationwide.
The standards have drawn increasingly vocal opposition in some areas, in part because of concerns they will lead to a loss of state control. This was the only task force recommendation that didn't pass unanimously.
"I have some deep concerns about common core," said Madison School District Superintendent Geoffrey Thomas. "I know they've already been adopted by the state, but these standards were written by a private firm. They weren't field-tested, there was no control group to measure their effectiveness. I worry they'll narrow curriculum even further."
Several task force members offered strong support for the standards, saying they will lead to improved performance by Idaho school kids.
"Based on our (pre-common core) standards, 90 percent of Idaho school children are at or above grade level in reading and about 85 percent are proficient in math," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna. "But when they go on (to college or post-secondary training), almost half of them need remediation. They aren't prepared for what awaits them. That tells us our standards aren't high enough."
Other recommendations approved Friday include providing greater autonomy and accountability at the local school district level, expanding access to computing devices and Internet connectivity, and improving opportunities for teacher mentoring, training and collaboration.
A full list of the recommendations can be found at:
http://www.boardofed.idaho.gov/board_initiatives/Education_Improvement_Taskforce/taskforce_jump.asp
Roger Brown, the governor's education liason, said Otter will review the task force recommendations, consider their fiscal effects and provide his thoughts on how to proceed before the start of the 2014 legislative session in January.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
  
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