Time to answer education questions

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter's State of the State address Monday contained thousands of words, the speech lasting 40 full minutes.

Education received plenty of general attention from the governor, who is seeking to protect public education from the slashed budgets some other departments might face. In promising change to education, Gov. Otter also created a vacuum of intrigue that will not begin to be filled in until this morning, when Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna will provide details of the plan to legislators.

But Gov. Otter's speech gave a few clues. He spoke about the need to invest in a third year of high school math and science and having the state pay for all Idaho juniors to take college entrance exams. Here's what he said about priority investments and the change he and Superintendent Luna envision for public education in Idaho:

"It will mean a fundamental shift in emphasis from the adults who oversee the process and administration to the best interests of our students."

"... We need to refocus from how much we are spending to how much our children are learning - learning in large measure due to responsible parenting and the excellence and sustained efforts of our fine public school teachers.

"That excellence should be rewarded - which is why Superintendent Luna and I are committed to establishing a pay system for teachers that emphasizes their performance, not their tenure."

The governor repeated the mantra uttered by countless businesses and families over the past few years: Basically, the state must do more with less. While we're trying to determine how communities can further step up for their poor and those with disabilities to help offset big cuts projected to Medicaid funding, we applaud the governor's determination to manage the budget conservatively and resist raising taxes at a time when citizens are struggling to recoup a decent standard of living.

And we're eager to have the blanks filled in today by Superintendent Luna - blanks that could range anywhere from little educational tweaks to broad education reform.