Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the new version of school reform legislation unveiled today, and how it's a lot like the old version that stalled in the state Senate - it calls for phasing in new laptop computers for every Idaho high school student, diverting school district funds to online course providers, and shifting funding from teachers to technology.

The one big difference from SB 1113, the controversial earlier version: It doesn't require larger class sizes and cutting 770 Idaho teaching jobs in the next two years to pay for it all. Instead, the money is taken from the existing school budget and local districts would have to decide how to make the cuts. "It would be wonderful if our economy turned around and we could start putting more money into education," said Senate Education Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, who is sponsoring the bill along with state schools Supt. Tom Luna and Gov. Butch Otter. "At some point, that's going to happen. In the meantime, what this bill does is it gives some legislative direction to local districts in some specific areas. ... We're setting direction for a vision of the 21st century classroom, and there is no additional money. So we have to use the funds that we have in a manner that accomplishes the goal."