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Lots of kids joined their parents at a rally in Boise on Monday against state schools Supt. Tom Luna's school reform plan; these youngsters hold a sign saying, "Do not replace our teachers with computers."
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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More than a thousand people packed closely into Capitol Park across from the state capitol on Monday, to rally against the proposed school-reform plan that would raise Idaho's class sizes, boost technology and cut hundreds of teaching jobs.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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James McMillan, a 29-year-old attorney from Wallace, proposes a resolution calling for the EPA to be removed from the Silver Valley within five years to the House State Affairs Committee; at left is his mom, Rep. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, who yielded to her son to present the first measure she's proposed.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, left, and House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, right, address the Idaho Press Club on Tuesday.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Raul Labrador, followed by his wife, Becca, enters the Idaho House lobby on Wednesday before addressing the state House for the first time as a congressman. Labrador previously served four years in the state House; he told lawmakers he's applying in Washington the lessons he learned in Idaho's statehouse.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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The Idaho Council on Indian Affairs meets in the state Capitol on Wednesday. Members expressed grave concern over legislation introduced that morning by House Speaker Lawerence Denney on reservation cigarette taxes, on which tribes weren't consulted in advance.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, setting budgets on Thursday morning for the Office of the Governor, the state Division of Financial Management and more, became locked in a debate over whether it should make equal percentage cuts to every agency; that move failed on an 8-12 vote. Backers said they wanted to shave pennies now to justify deep cuts in bigger budgets later.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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The clerk of the Senate reads SB 1108, the bill to trim back teacher contract rights, in full on Thursday after Senate Democrats refused to agree to waive the requirement for reading the 25-page bill.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, opens debate in the Senate on SB 1108, the bill to trim teacher contract rights, on Thursday. Goedde is the lead legislative sponsor of the bill, a piece of state schools Superintendent Tom Luna's controversial three-bill school reform package.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, speaks out against SB 1108 in the Senate on Thursday, the teacher contracts bill. She said the measure would declare "open season on those teachers" who in any way offend a school board member, whether it's by being rigorous, being of a different religion, or discussing difficult topics that are part of their class curriculum.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d'Alene, speaks out in favor of SB 1108 in the Senate on Thursday, the teacher contract bill. Hammond, a former school principal, said the measure is about "building a new paradigm for instruction."
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, offers his closing debate Thursday in favor of SB 1108, the bill to restrict teacher contract rights. It passed on a 20-15 vote, after nearly four hours of debate; the Senate then immediately launched into SB 1110, a teacher performance-pay bill.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Sen. John Goedde, standing at right, answers questions from Sen. Michelle Stennett, standing at left, on the teacher performance pay bill, SB 1110, in the Senate on Thursday. Goedde told Stennett there's "no funding source" for the estimated first-year cost of $38 million in fiscal year 2013.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, debates against SB 1110, the teacher merit pay bill, in the Senate on Thursday. At this point, the Senate had been debating education reform for nearly five hours, starting at 10 a.m.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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About a hundred people silently protest the Senate's passage Thursday of two school-reform bills, including one removing many of Idaho teachers' existing contract rights, in a candlelight vigil. It was one of 23 such events hastily scheduled late Thursday around the state.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, opens testimony for HB 117, his health care nullification bill, in a committee hearing Friday morning in the Senate State Affairs Committee. Barbieri said if the national health care reform law can't be voided by a state, "there is nothing to stop the federal government doing as it pleases when it pleases."
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Leah Southwell of Coeur d'Alene testifies in favor of HB 117, the health care nullification bill, at a Senate committee hearing on Friday morning. She urged senators to "be the check on the federal government."
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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Senate State Affairs Committee members listen to testimony at Friday morning's nullification hearing, which stretched for close to three hours.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review
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In this blurry photo, angry nullification supporters gather around Sen. Patti Anne Lodge after the Senate State Affairs Committee killed the health care nullification building on a voice vote on Friday morning; one man slammed his hand on the wooden counter in frustration as a security guard, right, joined the group.
Betsy Russell The Spokesman-Review