In between fielding lots and lots of handshakes and thank-you's from people who sat through today's nearly four-hour public hearing on education reform legislation, Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, said he never asked whether people could come back tomorrow, "Because there are an…
The Senate Education Committee, or those members of it who remain, are now hearing from the last person to testify today, a teacher from Idaho Falls. Forty-five people have testified today; 31 of them were against the school reform plan. Click below for a full…
Dozens more people still are waiting to testify, but several members of the Senate Education Committee have now had to leave, and the committee no longer has a quorum. All those still awaiting their chance to testify are against the Luna reform plan. "To hear…
Judith Harold of Pocatello, a retired teacher, said people are misinformed about what teacher tenure means in Idaho, a concern she said was reinforced when she saw a full-page ad in her local newspaper decrying teacher tenure and claiming that even the poorest teachers can't…
Briana LeClaire of Meridian, education policy analyst for the Idaho Freedom Foundation, testified in favor of the Luna school reform plan. She was followed by Ruth Wells of Montpelier, testifying against, who said, "I think we're rushing into this way too fast." Wells noted that…
Something kind of odd just happened. Senate Education Chairman John Goedde has been calling up only those from outside the Treasure Valley, but the vast majority of those remaining to testify are from the Treasure Valley and are against the Luna reform plan. Goedde called…
Christina Hartman of Montpelier said, "We're very concerned about the mandate that would require our students to receive a mobile computing device and take six classes online." She said her school already is at risk of losing programs like auto tech, art and band due…
Committee Chairman John Goedde said he was exercising the "chairman's prerogative" to invite a "visitor from out of state" to testify, though she's at the very end of the signup list; it's an executive from Intel Inc., Eileen Lento, who spoke in favor of the…
Among those testifying most recently: Joanne Holtz, a middle school teacher from Caldwell, told the Senate Education Committee that she's had to confiscate cell phones from students who've been texting in class, and she said students don't necessarily understand the proper use of technology and…
After hearing testimony from 18 people, alternating between those for and against the Luna school reform plan, the Senate Education Committee is taking a brief break. Nearly all of those still waiting to testify are against the plan.
Senators quizzed Tenaly Smith, a student at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, after she spoke against increasing class sizes and said her AP chemistry class already has 30 students, and her AP English class has 28. "I hate being in a crowded classroom," she told…
Of the 124 people who have signed up to testify at today's Senate Education Committee hearing, 108 indicated that they are against the Luna school reform plan, and just 15 indicated that they're testifying in favor. One put her X right on the line between…
Frank VanderSloot, CEO of Melaleuca Inc. in Idaho Falls, spoke in favor of the Luna school reform plan. He displayed a graph showing his company's revenues going up. "There's a reason for our continued growth and success in a time when all other companies are…
Whitney Webster, a student at Vallivue High School in Caldwell, said laptops for students and requirements for more online courses "will ultimately bring out far more negative outcomes than good." She said in the Miami, Fla. school district, students are being forced to take online…
Vicki Scaggs of Caldwell, an instructor at the College of Western Idaho, told lawmakers, "I ask you to consider stepping back, forming a task force to do the research necessary to alleviate the panic we in the ed'ucational profession are feeling right now." She said…
Michael Fuller, a private religious educator from Nampa who also works in educational technology at Boise State University, said, "Each kid in Idaho should have high-quality teachers and state-of-the-art learning tools." He spoke in favor of the Luna reform plan. "I understand that technology alone…
Dotty Douglas, a mother of two from Boise, asked lawmakers, "What college is going to look at six online classes as being as strong or equal to six in-person classes? I predict few." She said her son would be among the first group of high-schoolers…
Kolby Gull, superintendent of the Challis School District, spoke in favor of the Luna reform plan. He said education stakeholder groups are split on it. "None of these groups are the bad guys," he said. "The status quo is not good enough, education needs to…
The first person to testify at the school reform hearing, Pamela Chiarella, is a teacher and parent from Mountain Home. "Let me first say that schools are not a for-profit venture and students are not customers," she said. "Teaching kids is the business of educators,…
There's a full house for this afternoon's school reform hearing; here, state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna talks with Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, before the start of the hearing. Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, has just called the meeting…
The respected Boise State University Public Policy survey, a statewide poll that's been conducted in the state for more than 20 years, yielded a surprising result Tuesday: 74 percent support for allowing "terminally and seriously ill patients to use and purchase marijuana for medical purposes."…
More than 50 people already have signed up to testify at today's 3 p.m. hearing on state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna's school reform plan, and many more are lined up in the Statehouse garden level hallway to sign up. The public testimony will run…
When Idaho's Republican State Central Committee gathered for its winter meeting over the weekend, it faced 37 proposed resolutions, including one supporting tax-protesting Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, in his ethics issues; one rapping Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, who filed an ethics complaint against Hart;…
House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, has sent a letter to the co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee urging against any further cuts to Health & Welfare programs, especially Medicaid. The letter, dated yesterday, came after the JFAC co-chairs went letters to the Health &…
Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on proposed changes to House ethics rules, including clarifying that only House members can file complaints, and adding a clause covering "conduct unbecoming a House member" as an ethics violation. House Speaker Lawerence Denney brought the…
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