JFAC co-chairs give Ybarra generally high marks for her budget pitch

The co-chairs of the Legislature’s joint budget committee gave state Superintendent Sherri Ybarra generally high marks for her public school budget pitch to lawmakers today, and said she’s come a long way from her first, truncated budget pitch to JFAC three years ago. Back then, “She was a deer in the headlights, she really was,” said Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, “but she has grown into the role. … What she had to offer today was more complete.”

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said, “I though she did a good job – she presented her budget well. It’s a four-year term, and … there is a learning curve. I believe the superintendent knows her stuff, in terms of being on the front lines and in the administration, and taking that next step up to where she is, for a big organization, is a big step. She’s worked hard. She’s got a sense of what that department is and what she would like it to be moving forward, and I support her in that endeavor.”

Keough called Ybarra’s plan “a solid budget,” and said, “It seemed obvious to me that she’s done quite of bit of work on the ground with the schools, teachers, administrators. There are certainly differences between her budget and the governor’s budget, and even the state Board of Education budget. This committee and the germane committees will tussle their way through those differences and come to some conclusion.”

Keough questioned why Gov. Butch Otter proposed two line items, totaling $5 million, in the state board’s budget related to improving teacher evaluations and the performance of principals, when Ybarra said her $300,000 request would cover that need and her department’s efforts already are under way. “There’s a huge gap in price tag,” Keough said.

“I definitely believe that we have to have an accountability piece. That’s required by law to go into effect in 2018, but it’s also something we all want when it comes to taxpayers’ dollars,” Keough said. “I think its best suited in the superintendent’s budget. Coming from the classroom and the administration, she knows what evaluations look like. … I’m hoping the germane committees will help us sort that out.”

Bell said, “I think it’ll be a struggle for this committee.”

Bell said Ybarra adapted particularly well to JFAC’s new budget hearing format, in which agency heads and analysts take turns running down aspects of their budgets, from past years’ spending to line-item proposals for next year. That’s replaced extended Powerpoint presentations and speeches from agency heads. “That was a good presentation, the way she went through, pow, pow, pow,” Bell said. “That’s how it should be done.”