Cyr expressed grave concern that the bill would take the impetus for pursuing Master Teacher Premiums out of the hands of individual teachers and put it in the hands of school districts, as well as opening the door for watered-down payouts under the program.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra has been pushing the concept of a rural schools network for the last two years.
Full funding of year three of the career ladder had been identified as the top funding priority by virtually every person or entity involved in Idaho’s K-12 education budgeting process, so it did not come as a major surprise when the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee approved a budget that includes a $69.1 million increase in allocations for teacher compensation.
Idaho’s Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee will meet Monday to work on setting the K-12 public education budget for 2017-18.
Idaho’s Senate Education Committee heard public testimony on Idaho’s proposed science standards during Thursday’s meeting.