Needed: Your ideas to help Idaho students succeed

Earlier this year, with no input from Idaho parents and educators, State Supt. Tom Luna proposed, the state Legislature passed, and Gov. Butch Otter signed three new education laws … all despite widespread opposition from across Idaho.
 
Thanks to the overwhelming support of Idaho parents, educators, and other concerned citizens who collected signatures in the final weeks of last school year, these laws will be on the ballot for possible repeal in November 2012.

Idahoans are now seeing firsthand that these laws are flawed, as schools statewide are forced to cut teachers and other staff; class sizes grow; teachers leave the state for better opportunities elsewhere; and districts struggle to comply with new, unfunded mandates.

We have spoken loudly and clearly regarding what we do not like about the new laws that were forced upon our schools. We have expressed our frustration with the elected officials who rammed them through. Now we want to take a positive step forward and ask: What can we all do to help make our schools the best they can be?

To help answer that question, Idaho Parents and Teachers Together is asking Idahoans to participate in the Great Idaho Schools project. We urge parents, educators, business owners, youth group advisors, and civic leaders to hold formal and informal conversations this fall to generate ideas on how we can improve our public schools.

We know you don’t need another meeting to attend, so we’re asking existing groups to take on this topic as part of a meeting you already have scheduled this fall. PTA/PTOs, Chambers of Commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis/Key Clubs, National Honor Societies, Student Councils, church groups, and neighborhood associations are examples of the many groups that can take part in this grassroots project.

Your ideas – and the ideas of thousands of other Idahoans – will help local and state elected officials and school boards and administrators understand what a wide range of Idahoans truly want to see for Idaho’s public schools.

Join the conversation this fall.Visit Great Idaho Schools to volunteer to hold a community conversation or take an online survey to offer your ideas.

Thank you for your support and participation. Together, we can create great schools for Idaho’s children and our state’s future.

Mike Lanza (mlanza@cableone.net) and Maria Greeley (mariagreeley@yahoo.com)
Co-founders, Idaho Parents and Teachers Together

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We have several objections to Superintendent Luna’s plan, among them:

  • How does this help Idaho's economy?

    It eliminates nearly 800 public-school teachers across the state.

  • Drastic change to public education

    It would drastically overhaul public education as we know it in Idaho, implementing changes that are not only untested, but have many administrators and parents concerned that the results could be disastrous.

  • Online courses required

    It mandates that ALL high-school students take some courses on-line rather than in the classroom.

  • Laptops - support? responsibility?

    Instead of keeping teachers, the plan would spend money on providing laptop computers to all high-school freshmen statewide — with no consideration of parents’ concerns about whether their teenagers are prepared for that responsibility.

  • Even larger class sizes

    It increases class sizes across the state from fourth grade up.

  • No input from education professionals

    Luna sought no input from school administrators, who first heard about it only the day before Mr. Luna submitted it to state legislators. It is now being rushed through the state Legislature without, we fear, appropriate consideration of the impacts on our schools.

  • Does not save money

    Mr. Luna argues that this “reform” plan is necessary because of decreasing state revenues, and yet it does not save any money.

  • Removes local control

    Perhaps most troubling, this plan usurps local control of education from school-district administrators and teachers and hands it over to state bureaucrats far removed from the classroom.

Concerned Parents and Teachers

  • “I am a teacher in Idaho Falls. We feel like we are drowning with this plan Luna is proposing. We need parents who are willing to speak up. (Luna and state officials) don't always want to hear what the teachers have to say. They turn a deaf ear to us, even though we are in the trenches with the kids. We are advocates for kids. We love kids. That is why we teach.”

    Heather Rasmussen, Idaho Falls

  • "It has been absolutely demoralizing as a teacher to witness the acts against education in Idaho. We were quite excited when we came across your website. We are a very small district and at times it seems that our efforts are futile. It will take many voices to make a change, but I believe that those voices are ready to be heard."

    Holly Morris, teacher, parent, business owner, American Falls

 

  • "While class size is not the most critical factor in determining educational outcomes, great teachers are. The critical element is the quality of teaching. The evidence has been compelling for years. We should make sure the engines on a new plane are reliable before taking all of our 275,000 students on an experimental flight."

    Mike Reineck, Boise father and grandfather, retired from 20 years in the Air Force and then in local businesses