Luna: School reforms carry $68M price tag in first year
A list of proposed reforms to overhaul public education in Idaho would carry a $68 million price tag next year and be paid for mostly by increasing class sizes.
Idaho public schools chief Tom Luna presented the financial details of his proposed comprehensive education reform package to lawmakers in Boise on Tuesday.
The changes include boosting technology in the classroom and tying some teacher pay to merit.
The plan, and how it will be funded, is receiving mixed reviews from those tied to education in North Idaho, especially the proposal to raise the pupil-to-teacher ratio. A bulk of the costs would be paid for by increasing the ratio from 18.2 to 19.8 during the next two years to save about $100 million annually.
"You never like to increase class size. It definitely is something we'd prefer to keep smaller, and I think parents would too," said Coeur d'Alene Superintendent Hazel Bauman.
However, in her district, Bauman said, they have already increased class sizes in response to funding reductions from the state.
"While it's not something I would celebrate, it may turn out to be a necessary step, regardless of whether it's funding Superintendent Luna's reform," Bauman said.
Mary Ruch, a middle school teacher in the Coeur d'Alene district, said she is already teaching an average of 27 students in each of her core classes. Until December, the average was 31 students.
"I have technology in my classrooms. I currently have 6 computers, a document camera, a projector, a 9-foot screen and a set of student response clickers," Ruch told The Press. "These are all wonderful things to enhance my teaching and my students' learning. Not one of them or all of them combined could replace the instruction we engage in together."
Tom Taggart, Lakeland School District's business director, said local districts are just now starting to get specifics on the plan.
Taggart said Tuesday was the first he heard that the increased classroom size proposal would also result in less funding for administration and support staff.
"The state has never come close to funding the support staff for schools," Taggart said. "To see that reduced along with the teaching staff is very troublesome."
Taggart believes there are parts of the plan that are worth exploring and others that are not.
"To develop a complete restructuring of public schools in Idaho with no input from the people who actually do the work is a recipe for failure," Taggart said. "If these ideas are worth doing, they should take the time and do them in a manner that gives them a chance of succeeding."
One opinion Taggart believes is "completely out of line" is the idea that the people working in schools are not putting students first.
"To imply otherwise is an insult to trustees, administrators, teachers and support staff," he said. "Titling this plan 'Students First' is an insulting political ploy."
Taggart said that hopefully the Legislature will listen to the concerns of Idaho's educators and slow the proposal down.
Idaho school districts that lose students would also no longer hold onto 99 percent of the state funding that came with that student for another year, saving another $5.4 million to help pay for the reforms.
The state is expected to eliminate an estimated 770 to 825 teaching jobs, roughly 300 classified personnel positions and about 60 administrative roles as classrooms expand and more courses are taught online.
At the prospect of job carnage, some lawmakers were skeptical of Luna's pitch that the economy demanded the types of changes he had brought before them.
"I have to wonder in my mind how 1,000 less people working helps the economy," said Sen. Dean Cameron, a Republican from Rupert who co-chairs the Idaho Legislature's budget writing panel.
An estimated 1,600 teachers leave Idaho's public education system each year for a variety of reasons including retirement or a new job, and Luna believes the job losses can be absorbed mostly through attrition.