The first motion in the public schools budget, which is divided into six divisions, has passed JFAC on a 16-4 party-line vote, with the joint committee's four Democrats voting no. Included in the next budget division, which covers teachers, is permanent elimination of the $2,000 payment each year for five years that teachers previously got for attaining master teacher certification; that was suspended this year, and will be removed permanently in next year's budget. That means about 55 of Idaho's best teachers who received the money in 2010 won't get the rest of those bonuses. The hope is that a new pay for performance plan that contains different bonuses, that will start in 2013, will partly offset that loss for some of those master teachers in the future, though it'll be distributed on a different basis.

The teachers division budget also includes permanently repealing the early retirement incentive program for teachers, as required by this year's education reform bills. It includes $1.6 million to move Idaho's minimum teacher salary back up to $30,000 from the current $29,655; but overall, teacher pay would be cut.

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