Roger Brown, speaking for Gov. Butch Otter's office, said, "Our kids aren't ready for higher education. We have a very small percentage of our students, relative to the other states in the union, who go on to higher ed. ... And that's very troubling." He told the House Education Committee, "Our kids need to be more prepared for the challenges that they face." Brown said it was "that kind of thinking" that led to development of a "transformational" plan for education in Idaho, including a teacher merit pay plan that he said provides incentives for teachers to collaborate.

He said the two bills before the committee today, plus the third that's stalled in a Senate committee, "represent the governor's No. 1 legislative priority."