Testimony: Online classes, testing, class size concerns…

Several people who have testified have called for smart boards and classroom computers to enhance teaching, rather than issuing each high school student a laptop computer. Kerrin Rue, an American Government teacher at Borah High School in Boise, said, “At my school alone, the failure rate is between 30 and 40 percent for students who take online classes. Do you really want to be spending money on a program that takes teachers away from kids?”

Meghan Ridley, a special education teacher from Sandpoint, told lawmakers that education cuts in recent years have had deep impact on schools. She decried reliance on standardized tests, including requiring special-ed students to take the ISAT. “Literally they are tested on material they haven’t been taught,” she said. “How can this be an accurate measure of anything, let alone the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom?”

Rick Checketts, a parent from Mountain Home, said, “Mr. Luna has proposed that we put our children first. I agree with that. But how can we, if we increase our class size?” He said, “I feel that to increase the size of the classroom will lead to more dropouts,” as teachers have less time to help individual students who struggle. “We don’t need to start experimenting with Idaho’s education,” he said.