Luna hasn’t delivered

In regard to Betsy Russell’s Sept. 9 article on the education reform initiatives, it should be noted that the start of the school year has come and gone and there are no plans to distribute the first wave of technology to either teachers or the first group of students.

Due to poor planning on the part of the Idaho Department of Education, no vendor could be found that would provide technology for the amount the state had budgeted. After receiving no bids, the department had to start negotiating with vendors individually. At the same time, Superintendent Tom Luna called those school districts that were supposed to be part of the first wave and asked them if they would purchase the technology themselves instead of waiting for the promised state funds. This is one example of the short-sighted thought process that Luna used when proposing his initiatives.

I am a firm believer in the online learning part of Luna’s plan, and have already begun to institute it in my science course work in Wallace. However, Luna’s lack of ability to provide meaningful technology to Idaho’s students means students will still be left behind.

Nick Hoffman

Osburn, Idaho