Testimony: Spending, results, bargaining, myths

When Boise mom Dottie Douglas said Idaho already is 49th in the nation in per-pupil expenditures and  seems to be headed for 50th, House Education Committee Chairman Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, asked her if she had any information showing that that status hurt test scores. She said no.

Boise High School junior Ashley Hollister asked the committee, “Where is the evidence that shows that getting rid of collective bargaining … helps students achieve?” She said she’s had no bad teachers. Rep. Jim Marriott, R-Blackfoot, asked the young woman, “Ashley, have you read this bill?” She responded no, but that she’d read parts of it and done research on it.

Mary Gersema of Meridian, a mother of four children in the Meridian schools, testified in favor of the Luna plan. She said in the current budget cuts local school districts have cut textbooks and school supplies more than they’ve cut salaries and benefits. She said she was quoting Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, and said, “We must end the myth that more money equals better achievement. We can no longer waste my children’s time or the public’s money waiting for it to finally work.”