Luna: School cuts are ‘the new normal’

State schools Supt. Tom Luna told the House Education Committee this morning that the school budget set by JFAC yesterday shows the need for his reform bill, SB 1184. “Here we are facing a third year of funding cuts in our public schools,” he said. “It’s clear this is the new normal in our economy. … we have to give our schools the tools they need to do more with less, and technology is the key to making that happen.”

The bill shifts funds from teacher salaries to purchasing technology. The 24-page bill also makes a series of changes in how Idaho’s schools are funded and brings in a new focus on online learning, while phasing in a plan to have one “mobile computing device” for every high school student in Idaho. “I believe, and I think you believe, that there will be more online learning going on five years from now in our colleges and in our workplaces,” Luna said. “Understand in Idaho we have a technology gap.”