Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, told state schools Supt. Tom Luna, "As you mention, the hot-button issues thus far have been class size, laptops and online classes." He said he's been hearing a "process question" raised: That there are lots of groups representing parents, educators and more, but "there has been no buy-in for your plan. The plan was developed in isolation. ... The question I'm hearing is, Why don't we take a step back, more deliberately consider our options?"

Luna responded that he talked with various groups about a teacher pay-for-performance proposal that's part of his plan. "You won't find agreement on eliminating tenure. ... You won't find agreement on removing seniority as a portion of reduction in force," Luna said. "Knowing the process we went through just to come up with a pay-for-performance plan ... those are the kinds of things that through leadership have to happen. They're not going to happen through consensus, because of just the nature of labor and management relationships."

Toryanski said he's also been hearing concerns about eroding local control, and said the Luna plan is "a series of one-size-fits-all directives." Luna disagreed. Because teacher contracts could no longer have terms that continue beyond one year, he said, "Local school districts are going to have more control than they ever had before." He said districts will get to decide how to manage the student laptops that his plan requires, for example. "This bill in its total gives school districts and school board members far more control than they've had in the past," Luna said.

---

---