Luna ‘confident’ after his school budget pitch
Click below for a full report from AP reporter Jessie Bonner on today's school budget hearing, in which state schools Superintendent Tom Luna told JFAC he'd rather offset the cuts to teacher salaries called for in his "Students Come First" laws next year than refill a state rainy-day fund for schools. "I'm confident that when we're done, we will have a budget that fully funds all of the elements of the Students Come First education reforms, and keeps teacher salaries equal to what they are today," Luna told reporters after the budget hearing. He didn't propose reversing this year's shift from salary funds of $14.7 million.
Luna said because two-thirds of Idaho high schools have expressed interest in being among the first third of schools to get new laptop computers for each student under Students Come First, he's convinced there's "overwhelming support that's been developed for this one-to-one program." With a referendum looming to ask voters if they want to repeal the Students Come First laws, Luna said, "I think when we get to November of this year, the last thing people are going to want to do is go back to what it was before."
Idaho schools boss seeks to maintain teacher pay
By JESSIE L. BONNER, Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Public schools chief Tom Luna told lawmakers Thursday he wants to offset a planned $19 million reduction in Idaho teacher pay and benefits next year using projected state revenue the governor had hoped to funnel into a rainy day account for education.
The state is poised to move the money from salaries to help pay for classroom technology and teacher pay-for-performance as part of Luna's "Students Come First" education changes, which were signed into law last year. In November, measures asking voters to throw out Luna's reforms will be on the ballot.
This year, the state is shifting about $14.7 million in employee pay and benefits to help pay for the education changes.
The reduced state funding for salaries has resulted in fewer teachers and larger class sizes for some school districts. To preserve salaries in the next year, which starts July 1, Luna wants to backfill the $19.4 million set to be shifted away from employee pay and benefits.
Luna's plan relies on $29 million in projected state revenues that Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter wanted to shift into a reserve fund for public education in 2013. Under Otter's plan, teachers and other state workers would receive bonuses if state tax revenues stayed on track.
Luna, however, contends that it's more important to offset the reduction in salaries before replenishing the reserves.
"I recommend we put revenues toward salary-based apportionment first," Luna told legislative budget writers.
Idaho teachers would see an additional 5 percent increase in compensation next year if merit pay is included, said Luna, who estimated that 85 percent of educators statewide would benefit from the pay-for-performance plan under Students Come First.
Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, who co-chairs the Idaho Legislature's budget panel, said he agreed with Luna's argument for giving teachers a degree of certainty regarding their paychecks. But Cameron, who opposed Luna's changes during the 2011 session, asked the schools chief if he was proposing changing the mechanism in the education law that would shift money from salaries over the next five years.
Luna responded: "No, we're not asking for changes to the law that was passed last year." He added, however, that teachers will continue to see the same commitment from him to backfill the money being shifted from their salaries if state revenues allow.
The budget Luna presented to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee includes $1.27 billion in state general funding for public schools. That's a 4.7 percent increase, or $57 million, more than the state is spending on public education in the current fiscal year, according to the state Department of Education.
Luna said his spending plan for 2013 falls in line with the governor's budget recommendation.
Earlier this week, however, an Idaho legislative committee recommended a state budget package based on a tax revenue forecast that's about $33 million less than the one favored by Otter for the next fiscal year. Luna downplayed the difference between the revenue projection from the governor and the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee.
"Historically, I think it'd be difficult to find a year, where in almost a $3 billion dollar budget, you have the governor's revenue number and the outlook committee within $33 million dollars, so I think that's a great starting point," Luna said.
"I'm confident that when we're done, we will have a budget that fully funds all of the elements of the Students Come First education reforms, and keeps teacher salaries equal to what they are today," he said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
