BOISE - Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna pitched his school reform plan as a way to save Idaho's education system from future funding shortfalls.
It turns out, however, he'll need upward of $68 million in extra money over the next six years to pay for the reforms.
Luna presented his restructuring proposal and fiscal 2012 budget request to a combined meeting of the House and Senate budget and education committees Tuesday.
With 47 lawmakers on the four committees, almost half the Legislature was at the hearing. Most had already heard the basics of Luna's reform plan.
In essence, the superintendent wants to increase class sizes in grades four through 12 by about 10 percent over the next two years, an increase of about two students per class. This would result in fewer teachers and administrators, allowing the state to cut funding for staff salaries by about $107 million per year beginning in fiscal 2013.
This money would then be "reinvested" in classroom technology, including free laptop computers for all incoming ninth-graders and an increase in online learning opportunities.
It would also fund a pay-for-performance plan intended to reward good teachers and administrators. Eventually, Luna said, 85 percent of teacher pay would be based on the traditional salary grid, with the remaining 15 percent tied to student achievement and other performance measures.
Over the past two years, he said, state support for public education has dropped by $200 million. School districts responded in a variety of ways, including cutting teacher pay, shortening the school year, shifting money from maintenance into operations and relying on federal bailouts.
"We hoped the situation was temporary, (but) today we realize this is the new norm," Luna said. "That takes us to a crossroads: We can continue to cut the current system, we can raise taxes to prop up the current system, or we can change the system."
Based on current funding models, he said, public schools would need $25 million in additional funding in 2012 just to pay for enrollment growth, plus another $35 million to replace one-time money in the 2011 budget.
Rather than continue down that road, Luna wants to take about 10 percent of the public schools budget and spend the money in a new and - he hopes - more effective way.
"Some would call this a radical proposal," Luna said. "I guess it is radical that we could accomplish so much with no or little additional money. But we know it isn't radical to expand technology in the classroom. It isn't radical to improve teacher pay through pay for performance. The only thing that's really radical about this plan is that it actually puts students first. Look at what we can accomplish if we're just willing to spend what we already have in a different way."
Several lawmakers, however, noted Luna's proposal isn't entirely self-funded. The increased class sizes and other efficiencies come up anywhere from $9 million to $19 million short each year from 2013 through 2016.
"That's a concern," said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. "We'll probably have some discussions to see if there are places we can trim."
Cameron noted Luna's proposal would eliminate about 770 teaching positions, together with 300 classified staff and another 60 administrative positions.
Luna said most of the teaching reductions could be handled through normal attrition, but it's unclear if that's the case with the administrative and classified positions.
Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said she supports the concept of giving laptops to ninth-graders, but she's concerned rural students might have a harder time accessing online classes.
"There's not enough time in the day to get everything done without doing work at home," she said, "but some parts of Idaho don't have dial-up (Internet access) yet, much less high-speed broadband."
The proposed increase in class sizes was another concern, Keough said. Even setting aside claims higher class size hurts student achievement, some classrooms physically can't accommodate more students.
Other lawmakers wondered how laptop use would be monitored to make sure students aren't visiting inappropriate sites or interacting with online predators.
The likelihood that large, urban districts would find it easier to enact these reforms than small, rural districts was an issue as well, as was the availability of training to ensure teachers could effectively use the new technology.
Overall, lawmakers continue to be receptive to Luna's reforms, but they want to see more details.
Gov. Otter has come out in support of the plan, but it may take weeks for the education committees and joint budget committee to work through it all.
I am not so sure I am ready to trade teachers and aids for laptops. The idea of getting a laptop sounds so appealing, but who will monitor what they are looking at, fix them when they break, replace them when they aren't returned and pay for the internet connection these kids need to use them at home?
Thoughts??????????
Today I am grateful my husband had the day off. When you have a sick kid it is always better when one of you can be home for them.
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