Ed Board Debates School-To-Work Program Conservatives Fear Federal Intrusion On Local School Boards

Jennifer Boyd, a poised teenager from Harrison, asked the state Board of Education Thursday to support the School-to-Work program that has helped her choose a career.

Julie Koehler, a mother from Bonners Ferry, pleaded emotionally for the board to back away from such programs and focus instead on basic skills.

“Are these kinds of things that are filtering down federally really what we need here in Idaho?,” Koehler asked.

Fans and foes of School-to-Work dominated the open forum that began the board’s two-day meeting here. Board members responded by wondering aloud just what the state got when it won a $12 million federal School-to-Work grant.

The program is meant to help school children learn about careers, and be better prepared to enter the work force.

That can mean letting kids “shadow” workers for a day, to learn what jobs are like. It can mean placing teenagers in local businesses, where they get money or earn credit. Or, helping them set up a school store.

In Idaho, a School-to-Work collaborative team spent a year and a half researching the best way to set up a statewide program, said Karen Fraley, the team’s executive director.

Last year, state School Superintendent Anne Fox signed the proposal seeking the five-year federal grant. The first check, for $1.9 million, arrived last fall.

The program is slated to get into full swing next year when another $3.9 million comes from the federal government, Fraley said.

Some people have objected so strongly to School-to-Work, however, that the Board of Education may decide in May to change its grant application. It may ask the feds if it’s OK to change the program that Idaho proposed in the first place.

Fox is among those questioning whether the program allows for enough control by parents and school boards.

Fraley tried to reassure Board of Education members on that point.

“We’ve been trying hard to leave as much decision-making as possible at that level,” she said.

Some board members worried that School-to-Work might actually steer students away from college by exposing them to jobs where they could start getting paychecks immediately.

No one seemed sure Thursday how many strings came attached to the federal dollars they sought, or how much money would actually make its way to the schools. Tom Dillon, board member from Caldwell, said he didn’t share all of the concerns being raised about School-to-Work.

Much discussion of the program breaks down along ideological lines. In particular, Fox and other conservatives fear federal intrusion.

Bob Henninger of Coeur d’Alene tried to calm those concerns. He works with existing School-to-Work programs in North Idaho, such as the one in Harrison, that are paid for by different federal grants.

“School-to-Work money is very flexible,” he said.

Talia Best, a Kellogg High School student, said she was perplexed by the controversy over School-to-Work. She testified that the program has saved her the hassle of pursuing a career that she found she didn’t like.

“We finally have some kind of preparation for our future,” she said.

, DataTimes