Winder: What if bills don’t pass?
Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Meridian, asked state schools Supt. Tom Luna, "If none of these bills pass, what happens, in your opinion?" Luna said, "This legislature is obligated by law to set a schools budget, and the only things left to cut in the current budget are teacher salaries and benefits, transportation, which we've already cut considerably." He said perhaps the math and reading initiatives would be cut. "We have robbed Peter to pay Paul as long as we can," Luna said. "Peter is broke, and something has to give." When Winder asked what would happen if the bills don't pass and lawmakers lift "use it or lose it" rules on state funding to school districts, as the school administrators association suggested, Luna said, "If we make those kinds of cuts and remove the use it or lose it, class sizes will explode. ... You will see classroom size explode around the state."