House kicks off reform testimony

BOISE - Lawmakers in the Idaho House started taking public testimony Tuesday on legislation to eliminate "tenure" for new teachers, restrict collective bargaining and introduce merit pay.

For every supporter to speak in favor of the legislation, about five opponents railed against the measures in Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's reform plan.

Luna unveiled his multiyear strategy to overhaul Idaho's public education system at the start of the 2011 session, with backing from Gov. Butch Otter. The Republican-backed proposal failed to emerge from the Senate intact last week and the House Education Committee is now taking up just two of the three bills in the reform package.

Teachers have taken issue with the use of the word "tenure" in the legislation and say continuing contracts are being mislabeled, calling the measure as a whole "mean-spirited." It's a criticism that Luna has rejected and he told lawmakers Tuesday that the changes, while limiting the state teachers union, would return power back to the locally elected school boards.

"The current system makes it almost impossible to reward great teachers and very difficult to remove poor performing teachers," Luna said.

Public testimony during the four-hour hearing got off to a dramatic start in the House committee, with Meridian teacher Scott Hale insisting that his voice was about to be taken away before he affixed a piece of tape over his mouth and held up a sign for lawmakers that read: Silenced by Law.

The legislation would restrict collective bargaining agreements to salaries and benefits while also phasing out "tenure" for new educators and current teachers who have yet to obtain continuing contracts. These educators would instead be offered one- to two-year contracts following a probationary period.

Teachers with seniority would no longer be safe when school districts reduce their work force and Idaho school districts that lose students would no longer hold onto 99 percent of the state funding that came with that student for another year, to save the state an estimated $5.4 million each year.

The biggest - and so far most contentious- piece of the reform plan remains in the Senate and would boost technology in the classroom, require students to take four online course credits to graduate and bump up the minimum teacher pay to $30,000. It would also increase classroom sizes in grades four through 12 to pay for a bulk of the reforms, including the pay-for-performance plan that was approved by the Senate last week and carries a $38 million price tag in its first year.

Lawmakers have heard strong opposition to the reforms during public hearings last month in the Senate, where the main bill is being reworked amid concerns that it would increase class sizes and cut about 770 teaching jobs.

"The majority of the people of the state are now telling you they don't want this legislation passed," said Debbie Cottonware, a southern Idaho woman who opposes the plan.

House Education Committee Chairman Bob Nonini countered that lawmakers are hearing more support for the proposed education overhaul in their home towns, away from the Idaho Capitol, where the furor over the legislation has spawned student and teacher protests.

"I think when we go out into our communities we hear a lot different," said Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene.