Answers have been difficult to come by for members of the West Ada Education Association throughout the COVID-19 public health crisis. The West Ada school board has not always listened to the advice of medical experts or the concerns of professional educators. The district did bring in renowned physician Dr. David Pate, the recently retired…
Former Idaho Education Association President Monica Beaudoin died October 31, 2020, in Sandpoint at the age of 83. To say that Monica was a pillar of the education community would be a vast understatement, and her fingerprints remain on the IEA and on our public education system decades later. Monica grew up in North Dakota…
The Idaho Education Association recently unveiled two videos that portray the great work our members have been doing staying connected with students and parents during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Dating all the way back to March when school buildings around the state were first shut down to protect public health, and fast-forwarding to the current…
COVID-19, Economy, Politics Lead to Roller Coaster Ride for K-12 Resources The COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc with public school budgets around the country, and Idaho has been no exception. Shortly after the crisis hit, Gov. Brad Little announced a one percent holdback to be applied to the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, then…
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a plethora of new and unexpected concerns for professional educators. It has also brought to the forefront issues that have been percolating and under-emphasized for years. IEA members are among those with a front-row seat for how both sets of concerns are impacting their work, as well as the…
2020 feels like we are living in a simulation of a bad version of the movie Groundhog Day and someone needs to fix the script–fast. Educators are routinely boxed into having to make impossible choices in this script. None of the choices presented leave us with any real satisfactory answers. Here are some of the…