Ties To The North Help Move Education Bills To Forefront

There was an example Friday of how much difference it can make for North Idaho to have a committee chairman in the Legislature.

Sen. Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, the first northern committee chairman in five years, had three bills introduced by his Senate Education Committee. All three came solely at the urging of the Moscow School District.

The bills would:

Make the “School Accountability Report Cards” now required in all school districts optional.

Or, as an alternative, abolish them altogether.

Allow alternative school classes to be taught in the regular high school building during regular school hours. That’s now prohibited by state regulations.

Schroeder told the committee that Moscow school officials said they had little interest from patrons or parents in the school report cards, which list such measures as test scores and attendance rates to show how schools are doing.

“When it was enacted, it was a wonderful idea to let patrons and parents know what’s going on in the school district,” Schroeder said. But, he said, “It doesn’t appear there’s any interest.”

The alternative-school measure came in direct response to a situation at a Moscow High School.

The Senate Education Committee agreed unanimously to introduce the three bills. Hearings have yet to be scheduled.

, DataTimes