Comparing notes on education reform
<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Secretary of education for South Dakota schools Melody Schopp talks with Tom Luna, superintendent for the Idaho State Department of Education, Friday about education reform and how each state's programs compare.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Turns out that Idaho has had plenty of company when it comes to states passing education reform laws in recent years.
While 30 states have tweaked their systems individually, all have shared common-thread themes.
"We all wanted higher accountability," Melody Schopp, South Dakota's secretary of education told The Press.
Several small states, including Idaho and South Dakota, have recently passed sweeping education reform laws with various initiatives, including phasing out tenure, teacher pay based on performance, requiring laptops to be used by high school students and limits on collective bargaining. The changes came despite protests from teacher unions.
Schopp and Idaho School Superintendent Tom Luna are among the officials in Coeur d'Alene for the annual Summer Institute of the Council of Chief State School Officers, which represents state superintendents across the country. Luna is the organization's president.
Voters in several states, including Idaho and South Dakota, will have a chance to repeal the laws this November.
Schopp said South Dakota, which just approved its reform laws last winter, used Idaho as an example while it narrowly passed its measures.
"Every state went down its own pathway to create laws to respond to what has happened, but we do give Idaho a lot of credit," Schopp said. "I think Idaho got in front, paved the way and said, 'You can do this.'"
Luna said other states acting, meanwhile, shows that it isn't just Idaho seeking changes.
"Idaho isn't the only state trying to figure out how to do more with less," Luna said. "It brings some validation to what we're doing."
The education officials said reform was about aligning expectations, compensation and accountability. That meant huge changes to the old way of doing business, which is why both states had some trouble getting late support from some state education boards to stick.
Luna said the CCSSO conference is geared toward implementing changes brought on by reform and comparing notes with other states in the process.
"Some believe this is saying we have bad teachers and our schools are failing, but nobody has said that," Luna said. "The question is 'good' good enough? In the world we live in today, I don't believe it is. We have to improve as fast as the rest of the world."