Since last month, Idaho parents, students, and educators have been organizing, meeting, testifying, calling, emailing, and rallying in opposition to Superintendent Tom Luna’s proposals to overhaul education.
It all paid off late this week as the bills were sent back to Luna for a rewrite. Yet Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde (R-Coeur d’Alene) characterized the needed changes as “small corrections,” so it’s unclear whether they’ll be substantive enough to satisfy opponents of the bill.
We’ll be watching for the new bills early next week; it’s likely that Senate Bill 1069 (the technology driven School Modernization Bill) will be changed more than SB1068 which targets teachers and the IEA. Meanwhile, continue contacting members of the Senate Education Committee and tell them to support fair contracts for teachers.
In other news this week, Rep. Steve Thayn introduced a bill to cut Idaho’s kindergarten budget by two-thirds. There was no action this week on the two anti-IEA bills introduced last week into the House Education Committee, but we’re keeping an eye on those, too. Stay tuned to the Hotline for details.
