And they’re off!
Today Governor Otter kicked off the 2013 legislative session, as is customary, with his annual State of the State address. The biggest shakeup will be the loss of funding if the personal property tax is repealed. Key points of his address:
- The governor says he is “neither calling for nor expecting” any major proposals in education policy this year.
- His proposed budget is a 3.1% increase over last year, with a suggested increase of 2% in funding for K-12, or $25.6 million. We’ll be hearing much more about the details of his budget in the coming days and we’ll share information as we get it.
- Gov Otter addressed IACI’s big push for repeal of the personal property tax (a tax largely paid by big corporations), which will significantly impact county budgets. Otter suggests plugging the $141,000,000 hole left in the state budget by repeal of the personal property tax with a local option tax and a $20,000,000 offset from the general fund.
Idaho Business for Education forum
This morning the coalition Idaho Business for Education, sponsored a “legislative academy” on education reform for legislators and business leaders, and they extended an invitation to IEA leaders. The forum featured two national experts, Andy Smarick of Bellwether Education Partners and Joe Williams of Democrats for Education Reform. The panelists were careful to explain that education reform is never simple, that teacher are professionals, and that fairly improving teacher performance should include support for quality, ongoing professional development, not just a monthly lecture.
Michelle Rhee on Frontline tomorrow night
Tomorrow on PBS, Frontline will show “The Education of Michelle Rhee,” a documentary about the controversial leader of Washington, DC schools and leader of “StudentsFirst,” a donor to the pro-Props 1, 2 and 3 campaign. The documentary airs at 10 PM MST/ 9 PM PST on Idaho Public Television.
