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<DIV>Interesting. Wonder if John Goedde has now invested in online
education stocks. The Luna Bill gave him access to teachers on the first
day of school so he could push his insurance business. With the laptops he and
his cronies can place their ads on the desktop for students and their
parents. That’s exactly what happened when for-profit education vendors
provided Channel 1 cable TV access for classrooms. The contract requires
teachers show the opening advertisements. Of course, there’s nothing
forcing students to pay attention, but the ads were kid focused and catchy. I
suppose they still are. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tripling professional development requirements for teachers—who’s paying
that bill? Teachers themselves? Already tight district budgets?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Of course computers for kids and professional development for teachers are
not bad ideas, just costly, and that money will come from already reduced
dollars which used to go to local budgets for salaries, school busses,
professional development, technology, special education. The Luna Laws mandate a
progressive drop in educational funding to local districts. There is no
plan to infuse additional money into education to pay for all this. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A decade or more ago Indiana policy makers began giving all school children
computers, but they started in the early grades and planned to work their way
up. I don’t know all the reasons they ended the plan, but cost was a
significant factor, and they had some pretty big grants for the initial
funding. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sue H. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=thansen@moscow.com
href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">Tom Hansen</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 14, 2011 6:31 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Moscow Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Cc:</B> <A title=cpenni@gmail.com href="mailto:cpenni@gmail.com">Penni
Cyr</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Task force tweaks education
reform</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Courtesy of today's (December 14, 2011) Spokesman-Review.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<H1
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.2; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; CLEAR: both; FONT-SIZE: 28px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">Task
force tweaks education reform</H1>
<H5
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; LINE-HEIGHT: 1; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 12px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; COLOR: rgb(68,68,68); CLEAR: both; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial"
class=subhead>Idaho’s Luna hails efforts; high schoolers to get
laptops</H5></SPAN>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">BOISE
– After six months of study, a statewide task force Tuesday called for buying
all Idaho high school students laptops rather than tablets, phasing them in
school-by-school rather than grade-by-grade, and sharply upping the state’s
investment in on-the-job teacher training to accompany the new technology
push.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">“The
work that has been done here is historic,” said state schools Superintendent Tom
Luna, who chaired the task force charged with figuring out how to implement the
technology boosts in his Students Come First school reform program, which
lawmakers approved last year. “We all had the same goal, and that is to assure
that we’re preparing our students for the 21st century world that they’ll live
in.”</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">The
controversial reform program is up for a referendum vote in November, which
could repeal it. But Luna said the task force’s work has given him confidence
the reforms will survive the vote.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">“Not
every student has had access to the same technology, the same types of
information and learning opportunities. We’ve accomplished that through Students
Come First,” he said. “Just as this committee came to that realization, I think
the more people see these laws being implemented and the positive effect they
have, that come November of 2012, I’m very confident the voters of Idaho will
say this is the path we need to stay on.”</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">The
2012 Idaho Legislature convenes on Jan. 9; Luna said he’ll present the task
force’s 47 recommendations, which range from requiring face-to-face parent
training before students would be allowed to take their new laptops home, to
more than tripling professional development hours for teachers within the school
calendar.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">Over
the past six months, the task force heard numerous presentations, took trips to
visit schools in other states that have enacted programs supplying one computer
to each student, and met numerous times both as a full, 38-member panel and in
subcommittees.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">With
the change in phasing in the laptop computers, Idaho will need to adjust its new
graduation requirement that students, starting with the class of 2016, complete
two online classes to graduate from high school, said Senate Education Chairman
John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px; OVERFLOW-X: visible !important; OVERFLOW-Y: visible !important; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; MARGIN: 0px 0px 21px; OUTLINE-COLOR: ; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; OUTLINE-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: arial, sans-serif; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; FONT-SIZE: 16px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial">“I
don’t think, legally, you can make the requirement and only provide some of the
students with the devices, you’re denying them equal access,” said Goedde, who
sits on the technology task force. “My thought would be that we stagger the
graduation requirement to match the deployment of the computers.”</P></SPAN>
<DIV>------------------------------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><IMG id=D4A6CFD5-C044-479F-A2B3-019968898931 alt=image.jpeg
src="cid:759ECC17E5544D38B9ACFCF8C015B573@UserPC" width=500 height=340
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<DIV>Seeya round town, Moscow.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tom Hansen</DIV>
<DIV>Moscow, Idaho</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"If not us, who?</DIV>
<DIV>If not now, when?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>- Unknown</DIV></DIV>
<P>
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