Senate debate: ‘Teachers pay for own bonuses,’ ‘Framework for success’

Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, debating against SB 1184, said, “I don’t think anyone is debating the value of technology today.” She said in the bill, “The line items are subtracted from the support that we give to schools. … Now we’re talking about creating new line items of $13 million.” At the same time, she said, “We have even fewer dollars to commit to the public schools budget this year than we did last year.” She said lawmakers supported pay-for-performance when they passed an earlier reform bill, SB 1110. But under this bill, she said, “Those teachers … whose bonuses would be coming in are actually going to pay for their own bonuses with cuts in their own pay. … I don’t think any of us wanted that.”

Sen. Mitch Toryanski, R-Boise, debating in favor, said, “This bill is the result of compromise and collaboration. There’s been a lot of discussion, a lot of meetings, and a lot of rewrites, and a lot of passionate debate, much like what we’re having here today.” He said for people in his district there were three big concerns from the previous version: Raising class sizes, student ownership of laptop computers, and online courses as graduation requirements. He said those have been addressed to his satisfaction in SB 1184, and he said the bill includes a task force that will draw in stakeholders, who want to be heard. “It represents a strategic direction for education in our state,” Toryanski said. “It provides a framework for future success.”