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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Luna: ‘This is why I was elected’

After passing out a summary of his budget proposals over the next six years, Luna said, "Basically what this chart shows you is that we can have an education system that educates more students at a higher level with limited resources." He noted that some have called his plan "radical." "I guess to some it's radical that we can accomplish all this with little or no new money and without raising taxes," he said. "It's not radical for students to take online courses. Idaho students have been doing this for almost a decade. ... It’s not radical to improve teacher pay through pay for performance. ... The only thing that is really 'radical' about this plan is that it puts students first." He said, "Look at what we can accomplish if we're just willing to spend what we have differently."

He said his plan is "the only way" to accomplish this. "Nobody has presented an idea or a plan that gets us even close to that," he said, declaring, "This is what Idahoans have been asking for. It’s why I was elected. This is why you were elected."



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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