SUPERINTENDENT LUNA SUPPORTS FIRST STEP TOWARD CAREER LADDER

The House Education Committee on Monday passed House Bill 504, a bill that works to implement the first portion of the Career Ladder Compensation Model recommended by the Task Force for Improving Education.

Specifically, this legislation would provide $15.9 million in funding that Idaho’s school districts can use to pay leadership awards to Idaho teachers serving in leadership capacities. This is just one portion of the Career Ladder that the Task Force recommended to change the way Idaho’s teachers are compensated.

“Today, the House Education Committee took an important first step toward improving compensation for all Idaho’s teachers,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said. “The Task Force for Improving Education developed a framework for implementing a Career Ladder Compensation Model to create fiscal stability and help recruit and retain the best and the brightest in the teaching profession. By approving the leadership awards portion of the Career Ladder this year, the Legislature will take an important first step this year that allows us as a state to take the critical second step next year and implement the full Career Ladder.”

Superintendent Luna supports the $15.9 million in funding for leadership awards along with a 1 percent increase in funding for base salaries for Idaho’s teachers in fiscal year 2015 until the Career Ladder can be fully implemented in fiscal year 2016.

House Bill 504 will now head to the full House for approval.

DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES SCHOOL SAFETY, SECURITY ASSESSMENT

As part of Idaho’s effort to improve school safety and security, the Idaho State Department of Education has published the results of a comprehensive school safety assessment, administered among a representative sample 74 schools last year.

“While this report identifies several challenges in the area of school safety, it also recognizes many successes in Idaho’s schools that we can build upon going forward,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said. “Based on this assessment, we now have baseline information that we as a state will use to support schools as they improve safety and security for every child. This is essential because we know no child will be free to learn until they are truly free from intimidation and fear.”

In December 2012, as a result of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Superintendent Luna called on the state to take a renewed look at school safety and security. He established the Safe and Secure Schools Task Force, made up of educators and first responders as well as a liaison with the Governor’s office. Among its recommendations, the Task Force decided to conduct a comprehensive assessment to collect an objective, statewide snapshot of how prepared schools are to prevent and respond to crisis situations and to build local capacity to implement school safety improvements.

This comprehensive assessment provides important data to guide the state’s work going forward. Here are a few highlights from the report:

• In 68 of the 74 schools, they have published and/or promote statements regarding anti-bullying, anti-harassment, or anti-violence.
• In 68 of the 74 schools, they have alternatives to suspension and/or expulsion, which are effective disciplinary measures that continue to engage students rather than excluding them from the school setting entirely.
• In 60 of the 74 schools, they have a policy to lock classroom doors at the end of the day.
• In 71 of 74 schools, unauthorized entrance to the school was achieved through some way other than the designated main entrance.

Specifically, these results will inform future professional development opportunities, technical assistance, guidance and resources for Idaho schools. For fiscal year 2015, Superintendent Luna has requested $2.2 million in funding that will flow directly to Idaho’s schools and districts as well as an additional $500,000 to be used at the state level to provide guidance and technical assistance.

The full results of the comprehensive assessment are posted on our website.

REGISTER NOW FOR CHARTER START 101 WORKSHOP

The Idaho State Department of Education is hosting a Charter Start 101 workshop for parents, educators and others interested in learning more about what it takes to start a public charter school in Idaho on February 27-28, 2014 in Boise.

Public charters schools are free public schools that are open to all students. A public charter school gives parents the choice of sending their children to a school that uses innovative methods to provide a quality education in a smaller, more responsive learning environment.

Recently, Idaho jumped from 32 to 20 in national rankings of charter-friendly laws across the country after the Legislature improved Idaho’s public charter school law last year. The changes strengthened accountability for charter schools and provided funding for facilities.

Charter Start 101 is a two-day workshop that provides technical assistance for all new charter developers and any individual or group interested in a public school conversion. The workshop is designed to support public charter school developers at all stages – from vision to implementation. 

Workshop attendance is a statutory requirement for all charter developers. This free workshop is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the State Department of Education offices in the Barbara Morgan Conference Room, 650 West State Street, 2nd floor, Boise. Registration starts at 7:45 a.m. All participants will receive a charter start resource guide.

The deadline to register is Thursday, February 20, 2014. No late registrants will be accepted. Space is limited so please go to our website and fill out the registration form today! If you have any questions, please contact School Choice Coordinator Michelle Clement Taylor at mtaylor@sde.idaho.gov.

Idaho Teen GameLab

Is your son or daughter an aspiring “gamer” or computer programmer?  The Idaho Digital Learning Academy and GoGo Labs have teamed up to offer a six-week, online camp called Idaho Teen GameLab.  The camp promotes exploration of the digital game design career path for middle and high school students of all skills levels.

Idaho Teen GameLab engages students in their own realm—a virtual, quest-based platform.  Students will collaborate in virtual worlds to plan and build civilizations, create personalized games, and test and provide feedback on fellow developers’ games.

“Ninety-nine percent of teens play video games,” said Lisa Dawley, GoGo Labs CEO and Founder.  “GoGo Labs is focused on engaging students and inspiring teachers through gamified learning opportunities, and what could be more interesting than designing the games themselves?”

Space is limited to 200 students, so don’t delay!  Registration opens February 5, 2014.  For more information, visit http://idahoteengamelab.org/.

Superintendent Luna Announces He Will Not Run for Re-Election in 2014

Several people have requested a copy of Superintendent Luna's remarks from this morning. Here is a copy of his prepared remarks from Monday, January 27, 2014.

Over the past six months, I have not spoken to a reporter or constituent without getting the question about my plans for re-election.  So I am here today to answer that question. In 2007, I proudly took office as Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, and I was elected again in 2010. Surrounded by a dedicated family, hard-working staff and the most talented educators in the country, we have accomplished a lot in the past seven years.

When we came into office, only 26% of our schools were meeting the academic goals we had in place for them. In just a few short years, that number climbed to 66%.

Idaho was operating under the accountability provisions of No Child Left Behind. We are now out from under many of those onerous provisions and now have a new accountability system:  an Idaho accountability system built by Idahoans. Our new Five-Star Rating System is in its third year and based on multiple measures, including academic growth. Our schools are showing improvement because of it.

In 2007, parental choice was limited by an artificial cap on charter schools. We removed that cap, and today, we have twice as many charter schools serving more than twice as many students.

In 2007, local control was hampered by master agreements and labor laws that tied the hands of locally elected school boards.  Today, Idaho’s school districts are working under reformed labor laws that have empowered school boards with the authority needed to lead their districts.

We were stuck with an outdated salary grid where a teacher’s compensation was based solely on seniority and a teacher’s education level. That has changed. For the past two years, a portion of a teacher’s compensation has been based on student achievement, and today, there is bipartisan support to transition from that stagnant salary grid to a progressive, comprehensive career ladder form of compensation.

In 2007, there was no uniform teacher evaluation process for teachers and teacher evaluations were not tied to student achievement or job performance. We now have a uniform statewide teacher evaluation system, and today, a portion of that evaluation is based on the academic growth of students and a teacher’s job performance.

There was a digital divide between our rural schools and our urban and suburban schools so access to learning opportunities was limited to some or not available to all. Today, because of the miracle of technology, the Idaho Education Network has expanded access to the best educational opportunities to all high school students in the most rural and remote parts of Idaho.

In 2007, high school students in other states were enjoying the opportunity of getting a jump start on college and professional-technical by earning dual credits before graduating from high school. Today, we have incredible advanced opportunities in high school by helping high school students pay for dual credit, Advanced Placement or professional technical courses. In the past three years, we have seen an explosion in the number of students participating and the number of college credits earned.

Today, every high school junior is now taking a college entrance exam before they leave high school.

We have adopted higher academic standards, Idaho's core standards, to make sure students are getting the education they deserve in grades K-12 so they are prepared for postsecondary education and the workforce.

We have provided more transparency to parents and taxpayers by creating an online academic report card and a fiscal report card.

We created the Idaho Math Initiative to improve math education across all grades. This laid a strong foundation for raising academic standards in mathematics and to give Idaho teachers additional professional development.

I could go on. These are just a few of the things we have accomplished in the past seven years.
We have implemented many more things to improve our public education system and ensure every student graduates from high school and graduates prepared to go on to postsecondary education or the workforce without the need for remediation.

Many of our efforts have been successful, some have not. But they all have led us to where we are today. Today, we have a clear path forward. We have bipartisan support for changing things like the way we compensate teachers, investing in advanced technology in the classroom, creating more advanced opportunities and more. We welcome this support. We must continue to do important things, and we must continue to them in bipartisan ways.

This is a landmark opportunity in the State of Idaho. This is something we have wanted for a long time, but it has always been elusive – for political reasons. It seems like lately, everything I do, every action, every speech, every request, is looked at through the lens of re-election. And I believe there are some who currently support what we are doing, but who might feel the need to distance themselves from this work – or even oppose it – simply because they think it might benefit me politically. Therefore, I want to take that off the table. It is for that reason that I will not seek re-election in 2014. This is not a decision I came to easily, but I know it is the right decision for me, for my family, and for the children of Idaho.

The changes we need, the changes our children deserve cannot be built upon merely a political foundation. They must be based on a real belief and value system that truly puts children first because, if reform and change is based solely on political expediency, then when the politics change so will the commitment.  I want to do what I can to take the politics out of what we are doing now and focus on completing the important work ahead of us.

There are important things that we can and must accomplish this Legislative Session and over the next 11 months in the best interest of Idaho students. Elected officials have political capital, and they can spend it many ways. One of those ways is getting hard things done, and I plan to spend the political capital I have doing just that. During this Legislative Session and over the next 11 months, I will do everything I can to begin to implement the recommendations of the Task Force for Improving Education. That must remain our top priority in Idaho.

House and Senate Education Committees to Hold Listening Session Next Week

The House and Senate Education Committees announced they will host a joint listening session on January 27 from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. The hearings will be held in the Lincoln Auditorium in the West Wing of the State Capitol building. 

Representative Reed DeMordaunt stated, “We invite all of our citizens to participate and share with us their ideas on how our education system can be improved.”

The focus of this year’s listening session will be the Governor’s Task Force Recommendations. The joint committees are anxious to have input regarding the necessary action by the Legislature to bring the Task Force recommendations into real life application for Idaho. Citizens will be permitted to comment on other areas of our education system as well, except for Idaho Common Core Standards. The joint committees held an Idaho Common Core Forum on Wednesday dedicated to this discussion.

Senator Geodde explained, “that we want to hear our citizens thoughts regarding such questions as, ‘What does autonomy look like for a school District?’ and ‘How will teacher licensure effect our education system?’”

The chairmen requests that anyone desiring to address the joint committee should prepare statements in advance and limit comments to three minutes.  More detailed suggestions can be submitted to the committee in writing and will be made available to all committee members.  Comments may also be submitted via email to: hedu@house.idaho.gov.

The Governors’ Task Force recommendations can be found on the State Board of Education Task Force website.

SUPERINTENDENT LUNA PROPOSES BUDGET TO IMPLEMENT FIRST YEAR OF TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna today proposed a budget that would implement the first year of the Task Force for Improving Education’s recommendations and increase funding for Idaho’s K-12 public schools by 5.1 percent next fiscal year.

Superintendent Luna presented his proposed budget to the Joint Finance-Appropriation Committee (JFAC) this morning.  

 “I strongly believe implementation of the Task Force recommendations must begin today. The budget I have put forward today is a prudent plan for beginning to implement the Task Force recommendations and putting Idaho on a clear path to improving our public schools so that every child can graduate from high school prepared to go on to postsecondary education or the workforce without the need for remediation,” Superintendent Luna said.

The Task Force for Improving Education met for eight months in 2013 and developed 20 recommendations to help Idaho reach its goal for 60 percent of Idahoans, ages 25 to 34, to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate by 2020. The Task Force recommendations were published in September.  

The recommendations include moving to a mastery-based system of education, broad support for the implementation of higher academic standards, increased technology to bridge the digital divide, a career ladder compensation plan for teachers, and restoration of operational funding for Idaho school districts, among others.

The full implementation of the Task Force recommendations will take five to six years. Superintendent Luna’s request for 5.1 percent in additional funding would implement the first phase of these recommendations. 

Here are the highlights of Superintendent Luna’s budget request for Idaho’s public schools in fiscal year 2015:

Teacher Compensation:

The budget proposes $16 million in new funding to implement the Leadership Awards portion of the new Career Ladder Compensation Model for Idaho’s teachers, as well as a 1 percent increase in the money that funds teacher salaries at the local level.

The Task Force developed a framework for the Career Ladder, which combines competitive salaries for teachers with incentives, rewards and accountability. The system will be tied to a revised system of state licensure. One portion of the Career Ladder is Leadership Awards to be distributed at the discretion of local school boards.

Once the Career Ladder is fully implemented, a beginning teacher in Idaho will make $40,000 per year and can continue to earn salary increases based on experience, performance and other factors. 

Discretionary Funding:

Superintendent Luna supports the restoration of $35 million in discretionary funding for local school districts and public charter schools in fiscal year 2015. Districts use this funding to pay for utilities, health care and other costs at the district level.

Advanced Opportunities: 

Superintendent Luna proposes a $2.4 million increase in additional funding to expand dual credit, Advanced Placement and other advanced opportunities for high school students. This will build upon the current Dual Credit for Early Completers Program, 8-in-6 and other statewide programs to fulfill the Task Force recommendation for Advanced Opportunities.

Professional Development:

The budget proposes $12.2 million in continued funding for professional development for Idaho’s teachers. This line item continues funding spent at the state level to provide professional development on the Idaho Core Standards this school year and also continues an estimated $8 million to local school districts to provide professional development for teachers.

The budget also proposes $300,000 in continued funding for administrative evaluations and an additional $250,000 to provide master calendar training to assist school administrators in creating time for job-embedded professional development and collaboration among teachers. These budget line items help fulfill the Task Force recommendation for Training and Development of School Administrators, Superintendents, and School Boards, and for Job-Embedded Collaboration/Professional Development and Site-Based Collaboration, respectively. 

Technology:

The budget proposes $13.4 million in continued funding for classroom technology. Of this funding, more than $8 million is distributed directly to local school districts to spend on integrating technology in the classroom, and $2.25 million is spent at the state level to provide a wireless infrastructure, as well as support and maintenance for that infrastructure, in every public high school. In addition, $3 million has been set aside for technology pilot projects in Idaho’s public schools, and $150,000 is being used to develop an online course portal for parents and students.

School Safety and Security:

The budget proposes $2.75 million in funding for Safe- and Drug-Free School Programs. Of this, $2.2 million will be distributed to local school districts to invest in Safe- and Drug-Free School Programs at the local level. The remainder will be used at the state level to support Idaho’s schools and districts and to implement the recommendations of the School Safety and Security Task Force.

Continued Work:

The budget proposes $300,000 for technical advisory committees and a student advisory committee to continue work on the Task Force recommendations. Several recommendations, such as the Career Ladder and Mastery-Based System, will require additional work before they can be fully implemented.

Superintendent Luna’s budget proposal will now be considered by JFAC. If approved, it will move to the full House and Senate and need the Governor’s signature for final approval.