Final testimony; 45 have testified

The Senate Education Committee, or those members of it who remain, are now hearing from the last person to testify today, a teacher from Idaho Falls. Forty-five people have testified today; 31 of them were against the school reform plan. Click below for a full article on today’s hearing from AP reporter Jessie Bonner.

Lawmakers take testimony on education reforms
By JESSIE L. BONNER, Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A line formed at the Idaho Capitol about two hours before lawmakers started taking public testimony on a plan to overhaul Idaho’s public education system.

More than 100 people were scheduled to testify as the hearing started Tuesday, with just 16 signed up to speak in support of the Republican-backed education reforms that have been heavily criticized by the teachers union. Supporters included campaign contributors of public schools chief Tom Luna, who unveiled the overhaul in January.

“The opposition to this bill has only just begun. Please have the courage to pass this legislation for the benefit of our kids,” said Frank VanderSloot, the multimillionaire owner of the eastern Idaho health care products company Melaleuca Inc.

VanderSloot ran an independent campaign last year on behalf of Luna, who won re-election during the November election. VanderSloot has also taken out full page advertisements in Idaho newspapers touting the package of education reforms.

The legislation would require high school students to carry laptops and take at least six online course credits before they graduate. Idaho would also tie some teacher pay to merit as part of a pay-for-performance plan and award bonuses for taking on hard-to-fill positions and leadership roles, while eliminating tenure for new educators.

Idaho would instead offer new teachers two-year rolling contracts, after a three-year probationary period. Teachers with seniority would no longer be safe when school districts reduce their work force. Collective bargaining agreements with teachers would expire at the end of each fiscal year, with negotiations limited to salaries and benefits.

The state would increase class sizes to help pay for the plan and along with the increase in online courses, shed about 770 teaching jobs.

Lawmakers in the Idaho Senate, which will serve as the initial battleground for the proposal, kicked off four days of public testimony on the overhaul Monday. The Senate Education Committee is expected to debate the legislation later this week. Supporters and opponents of the bill remain deeply divided.

Student who examined the legislation as part of their school work were among those to testify at the hearing.

Tenaly Smith, a high school student from Caldwell, begged lawmakers not to increase class sizes to help pay for the plan. Lawmakers, who are facing an estimated $137 million budget deficit next year, asked the teenager where money might come from to help make up potential shortfalls in funding for public education.

“There has to be some other way,” she said.

Audree Reyes, a high school student from Vallivue High School in Caldwell, asked lawmakers to picture a classroom crammed with 40 students plopped in front of laptops with blank stares, likely checking their Facebook profiles or playing games instead of learning.

“Pretty gruesome, eh?” Reyes said. “This is what could happen if Superintendent Luna’s bill on education is passed.”

Committee Chairman John Goedde countered that Reyes had likely used a computer to research while preparing her comments for lawmakers and she confirmed that she did.

“But it was in a computer lab not on a laptop,” Reyes quipped, prompting a burst of applause from the crowd that included teachers and parents fighting the proposal.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.