State Supt. Tom Luna said it's his election mandate that's prompting him to push forward with his far-reaching education reform plan. "The urgency that we're moving this with is based on what the governor and I experienced this past year ... going from community to community, a very, very rigorous campaign, on top of being a governor and state superintendent at the same time," he said. "The people had a very clear choice, because those who defend the status quo ran very vigorous campaigns on how they thought education should operate now and in the future. The governor and I had a different plan. The people ... rejected the status quo."

Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, responded, "Education is a team sport- no one makes a unilateral decision." When it comes to "how you increase the skill level of students, you have parents, you have teachers, you have administrators involved in the decision-making process. When a decision is reached, it is reached through a collaborative effort and everyone is satisfied with the approach. I'm not seeing any specific play by which ... that was done. ... If there was a lack of participation in a collaborative effort, then we've got a problem here." Malepeai said the plan won't work unless all stakeholders are involved and can "buy into" it. "It is an Idaho problem," he said, "and it cannot be sort of a unilateral approach to how we do that."

Luna said he worked with stakeholders after his last pay-for-performance plan failed several years ago to develop a new one. "Well, then the wheels fell off the economy," he said. "So we kind of put it on the shelf." But that piece of the plan, he said, had input from stakeholders. "We are always willing to work with any individual, any group, any organization that puts students first," Luna said. "That's the only litmus test, if you will."