Voters said `no’ to Props 1,2,3, but education reform still needed in Idaho
“Vote no on Props 1, 2 and 3” has been the cry of Idahoans who oppose the Luna Laws during this year’s election season, and voters agreed. The Luna Laws were repealed at the ballot booth Tuesday by more than 50 percent of the vote.
The Idaho Statesman reported 57 percent of voters opposed the teachers’ restrictions in Prop 1, 58 percent opposed test-score-based pay in Prop 2, while 67 percent opposed the technology mandates in Prop 3.
Tom Luna, Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction, proposed the controversial Propositions 1, 2 and 3 as part of the Students Come First campaign in 2011 with Idaho Gov. C.L. Butch Otter, and called the propositions the “most important choice on education that many of us will make in our lifetime.”
The main arguments against the propositions are that they would have phased out teachers’ ability to achieve tenure, required high school students to take online courses to graduate, given every student a laptop and every classroom Wi-Fi and would have also taken away teachers’ rights to negotiate salaries.
Maybe voters didn’t agree with the bargaining rights of teachers being snatched away, or initiating merit pay based on the test scores of their students. Either way, voters repealed the three propositions and now the future of Idaho education is looking stagnant.
Luna’s education reforms were turned down, but Idaho’s education still desperately needs improvement.
The Idaho State Department of Education’s goals for the Idaho Standards Achievement Tests for grades 3-10 in reading, mathematics and language usage are 85, 83 and 75 percent respectively each year.
Despite bold goals, the state presented dismal ISAT scores in the spring of 2012. This year, an average of 14, 22 and 29 percent of students didn’t reach proficiency in reading, mathematics and language usage respectively. And according to the compiled ISAT results, the percentage of students who did not reach proficiency in mathematics in 2012 jumped from 12 to 26 percent from third grade to seventh grade. And from seventh to 10th grade, increased again from 26 to 29 percent.
This isn’t the pattern we should be seeing. Idaho needs to put more focus on educating our younger generations — the malleable generations of today’s youth who will be tomorrow’s workforce.
These scores aren’t acceptable, and they don’t create a quality educational foundation our state’s students can build upon. Idaho’s education needs some work, and we all have to be willing to put in the time needed to create reachable reform that will benefit students and teachers alike.
The majority of Idaho may not have agreed with Students Come First, but at least Luna had a concrete plan in place to try and improve education.
Those who opposed Luna’s legislation achieved what they have been clamoring for during the last two years when Props 1, 2 and 3 were repealed Tuesday — great.
Now it’s time to get back to work reforming Idaho education, and for those who oppose Luna to present a plan of their own.
— CR