Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, says she's "distressed" by the far-reaching legislation introduced today to allow cuts in public education in Idaho, which include shifting all Idaho teachers to one-year contracts. "It looks as though a sledgehammer was used when a scalpel was needed," Keough said. "My experience has been that the teachers union and teachers individually understand where we are with our economy, and have been trying to work with some of us ... taking the steps necessary to see us through the downturn. ... I've been working since November to try to make sure our lines of communication are open." She said, "Today's developments are distressing, because I know I was making progress in my district, and that we have a lot of trust and respect built. ... We need everybody to pull together. This doesn't do us any good, in my opinion."

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