September 23, 2010 in Idaho

Discontent over funding could impact Idaho schools race

Poll finds many undecided on Idaho superintendent

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As Idaho voters make clear their displeasure with cuts to public education spending, the men running to lead the state’s schools for the next four years are campaigning in relative obscurity.

A poll of 625 people likely to vote in the Nov. 2 election shows that 56 percent think per-pupil spending on K-12 public education is too low. The poll, conducted by The Spokesman-Review and six other daily Idaho newspapers, also shows that 23 percent of voters remain undecided about the race for superintendent of public instruction, possibly because some don’t know who’s running.

While GOP incumbent Tom Luna leads Democratic challenger Stan Olson 47 percent to 30 percent, the poll shows that 18 percent of respondents don’t recognize Luna’s name – giving him by far the lowest name recognition of any incumbent running in a statewide race this year. Olson, the just-retired Boise School District superintendent, is unknown to 53 percent of poll respondents.

“You have to consider Luna the favorite, but by no means is this race a done deal,” said Brad Coker, managing director of Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc., which conducted the Idaho Newspaper Poll.

Luna and Olson are running against a backdrop of voter unhappiness with the first-ever cuts made to public schools funding. Fifty-nine percent of those polled said they oppose the Legislature’s decision to cut school funding by $460 per pupil this year instead of raising taxes. The cuts also are an issue in the governor’s race, with Gov. Butch Otter’s Democratic challenger, Keith Allred, launching a new TV ad this week criticizing them.

Sherri Wood, president of the Idaho Education Association teachers union, said interest in the election seems to have sped up sooner than usual.

“I think what has happened with the public education cuts is parents – at least those who have enrolled their children in schools – have sort of gotten a jump on the political season,” Wood said.

Luna, who is seeking a second term, ran a weights-and-measures business for much of his career. He’s also served on the Nampa School District Board of Trustees and has led state commissions that have worked on achievement standards and the Idaho Standards Achievement Test.

Olson had a nearly 40-year career in education – including stints as a teacher, coach, adjunct professor and administrator – before retiring in June.

He said a lack of planning and educational priorities has worsened the impact of the budget cuts. “What’s troublesome is not only what happened this year, but what might happen next year,” Olson said.

With low name recognition, he said, he has a lot of work to do. “I hope in particular that the 23 percent of voters that are undecided at this stage will pay attention to the facts,” Olson said. “If they do that, their votes are coming in our column.”

Luna said his record shows that he’s pushed for new revenues for schools and put them into targeted areas like math and reading programs, textbooks and technology when the economy was strong.

“Not only did we get more money for schools, but we put it where it’s needed the most,” Luna said, stressing he’s made efforts to preserve funding. But Luna said money isn’t the only factor.

“People also want to make sure the money we have is being spent efficiently and effectively and we’re getting results,” he said. “I think more money alone is not indicative of a high-quality education system. If that was indicative, Washington, D.C., would have the best schools.”

Two comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  LarrySpencer on September 23 at 11:24 a.m.

  Let’s look at the lack of value of the poll. The poll claims that the people polled were likely to vote in November, but the story shows that is not the case. If you ask a voter if they are likely to vote in the next election, around 90 percent will say yes. Idaho voter records have history, so it would be easy to have only drawn from the list of voters who vote in non-presidential elections like this year.

  In short, around a third of the people polled in this poll will not actually vote this year, and those who will vote likely answered the questions differently than those who just told a poorly run poll that they planned to vote.

  Anything worth doing is worth doing well, unless you want a different answer that doing it well will provide

• 

  chiarella on October 01 at 1:49 p.m.

  Idaho has 2 choices for Superintendent of Public Schools: the incumbent with a very shallow resume and experience and the other choice, Dr. Olson who has spent his career in Education and Education Administration.

  Tom Luna’s comments in this article just point out the glaring differences in the two candidates abilities, leadership, and experience. Idaho has among the lowest teacher salaries, and lowest dollars spent per student in the country. Yet given these disadvantages, Dr. Olson was still able to lead four Idaho schools onto the top ranked list in the country!

  Tom Luna says above, “I think more money alone is not indicative of a high-quality education system. If that was indicative, Washington, D.C., would have the best schools.”
  
  Newsweek ran an article listing the top ranked schools in the country (http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/americas-best-high-schools/list.html, Oct 1, 2010) there are several top ranked high schools in Washington DC and here they are:

  Rank School City
  39 Bell Multicultural Washington DC
  112 School Without Walls Washington DC
  1686 Duke Ellington School of the Arts Washington DC
  101 Woodrow Wilson Washington DC
  1724 McKinley Tech Washington DC
  231 Banneker ** Washington DC
  1306 Thurgood Marshall Academy Washington DC
  1614 Cesar Chavez Charter-Capitol Hill Washington DC

  Among the six Idaho schools listed in the top rankings, four of them are from the Boise School District which at the time was run during Dr. Olson’s tenure as Superintendent of Boise School District.

  Rank School City
  560 Borah Boise
  517 Boise Boise
  1595 Capital Boise
  1297 Timberline Boise

  Given the right leadership maybe all of Idaho schools can benefit.