State superintendent: Legislature made a lot of progress

Posted: Tuesday, Apr 15, 2008 - 10:53:14 pm PDT
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By MAUREEN DOLAN
Staff writer 

SHAWN GUST/Press State Superintendent of Schools, Tom Luna, visits Coeur d'Alene High School Tuesday as students take the Idaho Standard Achievement Test.

Luna says iSTARS measure not passing by only one vote is not a failure

COEUR d'ALENE -- Although Tom Luna's $60 million merit pay plan for teachers failed to get the nod from lawmakers during the last legislative session, the state superintendent of public instruction isn't giving up on it.

"Even though we were not successful, we made a lot of progress," Luna said.

Luna spoke to superintendents and administrators from throughout the region Tuesday at the Ameritel Inn during a Coeur d'Alene stop on the state education department's post-legislative tour.

Luna reflected on the failed pay-for-performance plan and other legislative decisions that will impact Idaho public education throughout the coming year.

Under Luna's proposed merit pay plan, dubbed the Idaho State Advancement and Recognition System, or iSTARS, teachers would have been eligible for pay increases for raising student achievement, working in hard-to-fill positions, gaining expertise and qualifications in multiple subject areas and taking on additional leadership roles in the education community.

"iSTARS was the closest Idaho has ever come to an improved teacher pay plan," Luna said. "It failed to pass the Senate by just one vote. I don't consider that a failure."

One of the concerns raised by educators and lawmakers when iSTARS was first unveiled by Luna last fall was that districts throughout the state did not have a uniform method for assessing teacher performance.

The Legislature addressed that issue by allocating $50,000 to create a state task force to develop minimum standards statewide for a fair and consistent system for evaluating teacher performance.

The task force, comprised of officials, lawmakers, educators, one parent and one business community member will meet monthly from May through October and make a recommendation to the governor, the Legislature and the state board of education in January.

"We know the most important component of education is the quality of the teacher," Luna said. "I'm not going to leave that up to chance."

The superintendent was successful at garnering a second year of funding for his classroom enhancement package that provides $350 for every full-time teacher in Idaho to spend on classroom supplies in each classroom.

The state also received funding Luna requested for a state math initiative aimed at raising math scores throughout the state.

The $3.9 million put into the public schools budget will be used to pay for teacher training, assessments and intervention tools during the 2008-2009 school year.

Luna said the amount will go up each year and then back down as teachers need less training and math grades start coming up. He compared it to the reading initiative already in place.

The department of education received $2.5 million to fund the planning and implementation of a statewide longitudinal data system.

Luna said it will "build a digital bridge" between the state and local districts making it possible for both to exchange student data quickly and accurately.

Luna also asked for but did not receive $3.5 million for concurrent, or dual, credit program funding.

He said because the colleges and universities also asked for funding for their programs that allow high school students to earn college credit while still in high school, the Legislature allocated $50,000 for the development of a statewide system -- one plan that works for both higher education and K-12.

Additional items funded by the Legislature include: $50,000 to continue researching solutions to problems faced by Idaho's rural schools and $100,000 to continue improvement of school security throughout the state.