Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said the school board members and school administrators in her district aren't supporting SB 1108, and have urged her to "not allow SB 1108 to go forward today." There are some things in it they like, she said, "but there are so many other things that will upset the current situation we have in our schools. It is difficult enough, with the financial considerations that we are facing, to turn upside down teacher contract law at this time, at this point, without adequate deliberation." She said the move would "undermine our efforts to truly put students first."

Keough said the bill would abrogate currently existing contracts and get the state and local school districts sued, and its fiscal note doesn't reflect the cost of that. She recalled last year's unprecedented deliberations in the joint budget committee on the school budget, in which all the stakeholders were invited to the table to participate. "One of my concerns with this bill, SB 1108, is the stakeholders were not a part of this discussion up-front," she said. She said, "There are pieces of this legislation that I like, and I think we could do a better job."

---

---