Ybarra: Keep school momentum going

COEUR d’ALENE — Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra wants four more years to continue the positive momentum she has built.

Test scores are up, graduation rates are up, thousands of students are getting a jump start earning college credits while in high school, and the state is “making great strides towards better teacher pay,” Ybarra said in an interview with The Press on Thursday. “It’s essential for the future of more than 300,000 students that my leadership continue. Idaho schools need an advocate with a track record of success,” she added. “Under my leadership as superintendent the plan that I’m implementing is delivering results.”

Ybarra, a Republican facing Democrat Cindy Wilson on Nov. 6, is motivated by stories like the one a former third-grade student of hers related. Shortly after Ybarra was elected in 2014, the student sent Ybarra a letter describing how the life lessons she learned in Ybarra’s third-grade classroom have led to a better life for her and her children. The opportunity to affect generations like that is why she wants to serve another four years as superintendent, Ybarra said.

If re-elected, Ybarra said she would like to continue work resolving the teacher shortage by boosting teacher pay. Other priorities include raising the graduate rate and improving school safety.

Voters can’t depend on critics who just want to throw money at a problem with no plan, and hope it sticks, she said. Ybarra said the state’s five-year K-12 plan “has really kept everybody headed down the right path. Now that they’re starting to see the gains and improvement, everyone’s willing to make education a priority.”

Ybarra wants to offer resources for early childhood education to parents who want it, but is opposed to mandating a one-size-fits-all approach to pre-kindergarten.

“Families know what their kids need,” she said. “I would love to give resources to parents whose kids need help before kindergarten.”

She said the state ought to invest in resources that give parents options rather than issue mandates. The superintendent said she has always been a strong supporter of school choice.

“I love the flexibility and local control that Idaho has,” which offers parents a multitude of educational options.

She added that she would like to see traditional public schools gain some of the freedom to innovate that public charter schools were created to enjoy.

School districts can best judge when and how students should have access to their cellphones. Kids and adults alike are attached to the devices, and it’s unrealistic to expect students to be disconnected when they get to school.

“Kids don’t come into the classroom and unplug anymore,” Ybarra said. If managed properly and at appropriate times, the devices can be tools used for learning, she said.

Ybarra said there is a “stark difference between myself and my opponent,” and added that her relationships with the current Republican leadership will offer Idaho students stability following the election of a new governor.

“Our kids will need stability with all those changes,” she said. “With me that’s what they’ll get.”