In the debate on SB 1110, the teacher performance-pay bill, Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, said, "I believe this bill is not ready and it certainly is not funded." Passing it without a funding source, she said, threatens to compete with existing school funding for already-strapped…
Sen. John Goedde, opening debate on SB 1110, the teacher performance pay bill, said it will reward teachers with bonuses for outstanding work, and let districts pay more to those in hard-to-fill positions. "Senators, we have an educator pay scale that's built in the 19th…
Here's the Senate vote breakdown on SB 1108, the teacher contracts bill: Voting in favor: Sens. Bair, Brackett, Davis, Fulcher, Goedde, Hammond, Heider, Hill, Lodge, McGee, McKague, McKenzie, Mortimer, Nuxoll, Pearce, Siddoway, Smyser, Toryanski, Vick, and Winder. Voting against: Sens. Andreason, Bilyeu, Bock, Broadsword, Cameron,…
The Senate has been debating school reform bills since 10 a.m., and it's now twenty to 2. It's launched right in to SB 1110, the teacher performance pay bill, and once again, Democrats have objected to waiving the requirement for full reading of the bill.…
SB 1108 has passed the Senate on a rather close 20-15 vote, with bipartisan opposition. The Senate has now moved immediately to take up SB 1110, the teacher performance pay bill.
Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, in his closing debate on SB 1108, the teacher contract bill, read from a speech by President Obama, "We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones." He said, "This is a first step in providing…
Sen. John Andreason, R-Boise, told the Senate, "This bill has some good points to it, but in my view, it's an unfinished product." He said his local school districts "especially don't like sections 6, 10 and 12." Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, said, "I cannot see…
Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d'Alene, told the Senate, "Teaching is worthy of greater respect from our society than what we currently give it, and it's worthy of compensation relative to its importance." The former school principal said, "This bill is about starting over, it's about…
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…
Sen. Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, debating in favor of SB 1108, told the Senate, "This bill returns control to the school boards, invests them with proper authority they should have as elected officials of their school district. This bill prevents past boards from binding future…
Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, who said he's one of just three senators in the chamber who's taught as a classroom teacher, told the Senate, "I do know something about this. This bill is going to hit at the heart of every teacher. ... This I…
Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, told the Senate that under SB 1108, "Our predecessors put this in place because there were problems, and those problems were many, and those problems have not disappeared." Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, said, "SB 1108, in my opinion, is the beginning…
Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, told the Senate he attended a meeting in his district at which 250 people turned out to discuss the legislation. He heard teachers, high school students and others speak out against SB 1108. He even received a petition from 4th…
Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, asked several questions of SB 1108's sponsor, Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene. Among them: Whether "grandfathered" continuing contracts can be terminated, under the bill, during a reduction in force. Goedde said yes, that's what the bill requires. Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho…
"I've received more email on this bill than any other bill in my years in the Legislature," Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, told the Senate, debating in favor of the motion to delay SB 1108. "We need more time to look at this. ... We need…
Sen. Diane Bilyeu, D-Pocatello, moved that consideration of SB 1108 be indefinitely postponed, and Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, seconded the motion. Bilyeu said there are too many questions about the bill. Sen. Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, responded, "This is a bill that has been well-vetted."
Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, told the Senate that SB 1108 is so important that it needed to be read in full, for all senators to understand everything the measure would do. "I'm really concerned with how mean-spirited this bill seems to be," she said. Sen.…
Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, told the Senate that SB 1108 will give broader say to "school board members who are elected today," rather than "being bound by school boards of yesterday." He said, "There are some who say that these changes will cause teacher…
Senators were almost done reading the full text of SB 1108 when Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, asked to cut off the reading and start the debate. Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, has now opened the debate, touting "the overarching promise of this…
Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, now has taken over the full reading of SB 1108. He's on page 22 of the bill. On that page, the measure says, "If no agreement regarding compensation has been reached by the parties on or before June 20, the board…
Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, has now taken over the reading of SB 1108 in the Senate chamber. Among little-discussed clauses of the bill that have been read: The bill goes on for more than a full page with new requirements on how teachers must be…
Senate GOP Caucus Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, has now taken over the reading of the bill, SB 1108 to trim teacher contract rights. He's on page 16 of the 25-page bill.
The Senate has now gone at ease, after first the clerk of the Senate, and then Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, read from the text of SB 1108. Davis wasn't done; numerous more pages remain to be read in the bill. Now, the…
When Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, asked the Senate just now for unanimous consent to waive further reading of SB 1108, as is the usual custom, and permit the debate on the bill to begin, Senate Minority Leader Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, objected, so now the…
Two of the three bills in state schools Supt. Tom Luna's reform package are up for debate in the Senate today: SB 1108, trimming teacher contract rights; and SB 1110, establishing a pay-for-performance system for teachers. Here's a list of the changes that SB 1108…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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