Jones touts her experience

COEUR d'ALENE - Jana Jones, the Democratic Party candidate for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction, said the winner of November's general election won't have time to learn on the job.

"We need to get right back on track and start moving forward again," Jones said Tuesday in an interview with The Press.

Jones, who ran and lost to current Idaho Superintendent Tom Luna in 2006, said she has the experience to jump right in and get to work.

She has an educational doctorate in educational leadership, and bachelor's and master's degrees in special education.

Jones was a classroom teacher in Idaho Falls. She founded and operated Progressive Day School, one of the first early childhood centers in the state to include children with special needs.

She went on to work for the Idaho Department of Education, and then for Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus in his Office of Children.

She became the state director of special education, and then went on to become chief deputy superintendent of public instruction.

Currently, she is vice president of kindergarten through 12th grade education practice for a national consulting firm, where she works with school districts, charter schools, and state departments of education throughout the nation.

"I can see what goes on in other states, see what works and what doesn't work," Jones said.

Jones received the endorsement of Idaho's 2014 Superintendent of the Year, Chuck Shackett, a prominent Republican. Shackett works for the Bonneville Joint School District.

"He knows me, we've known each other for many years," Jones said.

Jones also received the endorsement of the Idaho Education Association, an organization of Idaho elementary and secondary teachers.

"I want to champion our teachers and our education system, and point out all the good things that are going on," Jones said.

She promised to invest in public schools.

She said approximately 90 school districts in the state have supplemental levies, which in the past provided funding for special programs.

"They're now using those supplemental levies to just keep the lights on and the buses running," Jones said. "We can't afford to do that anymore."

She knows more money for schools doesn't automatically guarantee better education, but it does pay for highly-qualified teachers, modern, up-to-date classrooms and smaller class sizes, she said.

She said budget cuts for schools have negatively affected the quality of education in the state.

"We need to get back to state funding and meeting their constitutional obligations, of providing a free and public education to the kids in Idaho," Jones said. "Since 2006, we've had huge cuts."

She added that approximately 40 school districts in the state have four-day school weeks, which reduces students' class time.

"When you talk to teachers, they say, 'That's not fair,'" Jones said.

She would like to see some of the state's "rainy day funds" spent on education.

To find more money for schools, she said, Idaho could review some of the tax exemptions to see if they're still appropriate.

She said school districts should also have more say about how their money is spent, with less input from state officials.

"Let's set our expectations" at the state level, Jones said. "And then let's let those local school boards and superintendents make the decisions that are necessary to get them there."

Jones lives in Idaho Falls with her husband of 41 years, Ross. They have three grown children and three grandchildren.

Sherri Ybarra, a Mountain Home Republican, is Jones' opponent in the Nov. 4 general election.