Kempthorne Has An Everyman Touch

Sure, lawmakers seem awfully ready to jump on any sign that Gov. Dirk Kempthorne is too fond of the trappings of power.

After all, Kempthorne, who’s fresh from six years in the U.S. Senate, does happen to like military bands. And he did propose beefing up Capitol security with more cops and metal detectors, closing off two grand, columned entrances to the building to all but card-carrying authorized personnel, and opening a Washington, D.C., office for the state.

Yeah, he hired a cadre of new, well-paid advisers, and his budget calls for the re-outfitting of an old military plane that, when it’s not being used to fly SWAT teams around the state, will be available for state business including the governor’s.

But the blue-eyed, telegenic new governor also defies the stereotype sometimes. For example, Rep. Wayne Meyer was stunned when Kempthorne strolled up while he chatted with folks at a Boise hotel bar, and the chief exec sat down and shot the breeze with the group for an hour.

And when it came to his official car, Kempthorne didn’t opt for a flashy Cadillac like former Gov. Cecil Andrus or a sensible smaller car like former Gov. Phil Batt.

Instead, he’s tooling around in a ‘93 black Suburban that’s a castoff from the State Police.

Easier if you can do it all

State Schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard is having an easier time arguing for her budget these days, since the latest school enrollment figures came in.

That’s because the number of school kids isn’t growing as fast as had been projected. The result? The same amount of money will stretch further.

Howard’s roughed out a revised budget request that includes 3 percent more money for teacher and administrator salaries - something Kempthorne recommended for all other state employees, but skipped for schools - along with money for the new reading initiative.

The bottom line still comes out the same as the governor’s recommendation.

Howling in the halls

After Rep. Jim Stoicheff introduced his bill to make sure Idaho goes ahead with its ban on betting on simulcasts of dog races, fellow Sandpoint Rep. John Campbell leaned over and suggested maybe the ban ought to extend to TV coverage of election candidates’ races, too.

Stoicheff cracked up. “Yeah, those are all dogs,” he agreed.

It’s all in whom he sits by?

Sen. Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d’Alene, told the Senate Education Committee that after three years of sitting next to Sen. Darrel Deide, he’s come around to agreeing with Deide on teacher contracts.

Deide, R-Caldwell, a retired school superintendent, introduced six - count ‘em, six - bills on Friday aimed at tilting teacher contract laws more in favor of management. In particular, he wants to make it easier to get rid of so-so or average teachers during their first three years, saying now it’s only possible get rid of really awful ones.

After Riggs gave Deide’s plans his strong vote of confidence, Sen. Betsy Dunklin, D-Boise, drew laughter by asking how she could get Riggs moved over next to her, so she could start working her views on him.

It’s on, it’s off, it’s on

First, the big new push to teach Idaho’s school kids to read by third grade called for a reading czar to oversee a dozen new state reading specialists - a plan panned by school superintendents across the state as an unnecessary new layer of bureaucracy.

Then legislators came out with a plan stripped of both the czar and his/her minions. Reviews were much improved.

Then Tom Morley, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s education adviser, told this newspaper that the reading director position is still in the works - it’ll just be funded out of another program, the Albertson Foundation-funded “What Matters Most” initiative.

That program focuses on attracting, training and keeping top-quality teachers.

“There was always the hope there would be somebody able to pull it all together and make it accountable,” Morley said last week.

Sure enough, the What Matters Most grant does include a $65,000-a-year coordinator. But the job lasts only three years, and training teachers on reading education is just one of five major areas the coordinator will oversee.

The reading initiative includes plenty of other efforts, most of which will be overseen by local school districts or the state superintendent of schools.

Greg Fitch, director of the state Board of Education, praised Morley for fitting it all together.

“He helped coordinate and bring these two together to reduce the duplication,” Fitch said.