Panel says teachers should teach

By DUSTIN HURST

IdahoReporter.com

Should Idaho teachers be paid not to teach students? The House Education Committee thinks not and voted today to put that into state law by approving a bill to limit what teachers can do under their contracts.

House Bill 104, sponsored by Rep. Reed DeMourdant, R-Star, would prevent teachers from being paid by school districts to lead union organizing activities. The issue has been a favorite of the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), which says that teachers should not be paid not to teach.

“Even in this budget climate, school districts still allow teachers to get paid to attend to union business while on the taxpayer dime,” writes Wayne Hoffman, IFF director on the group’s website.  ”Some teachers spend an entire school year receiving taxpayer-paid salaries and benefits without having to step foot in front of a classroom of students.”

The Idaho Education Association (IEA), the voluntary teachers’ union in the Gem State, objected to the bill via its Twitter account saying that Demourdant’s plan would “gut local control.” The IEA also said the bill is “anti-education,” and that it “aims to punish the IEA.” The group says that teachers on union release time work with school administrators to save taxpayer dollars and improve other educators.

IEA President Sherri Wood told IdahoReporter that the release-time employees – there are only three of them in the state – provide support and training to struggling educators and often aid in removal of bad teachers from the profession. For the services of the employees, Wood explained, districts pay a starting teacher salary, while local union teachers fund the rest of the wages.

Wood said that the release-time employees don’t perform union organizing tasks during school hours. “That just doesn’t happen,” Wood said.

DeMourdant disputed the group’s claim about local control, saying that greater transparency regarding teaching dollars would give school boards more control over budgets and taxpayer dollars. “This makes sure the dollars intended for highly effective teachers are then used for highly effective teachers,” said DeMourdant.  “It helps provide transparency to taxpayers.”

The measure passed on tally of 11-3, with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing.

Note: Wayne Hoffman was actively involved in crafting DeMourdant’s bill.  IdahoReporter.com is published by the Idaho Freedom Foundation.