Teacher concerns going into the next legislative session

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Members of the Idaho Education Association (IEA) are preparing to lobby legislators at the next legislative session about their concerns in the classroom.

They are hoping to address ways to find easier avenues of success when it comes to building maintenance and building new facilities. They are also hoping to find ways to aid students with behavioral issues inside the classroom.

"We have to address this legislative session in order to make sure that, number one, our students are safe in their classroom," Mike Journee the Director of Communications for the Idaho Education Association said.

Idaho Representative Marco Erickson said that if legislation can make a difference on these issues then, he is confident everyone can get a proper solution.

"I'm surely ready to have that conversation and see what we can do," Erickson said.

I also spoke with many local teachers. They shared with me how they felt about the issues the IEA is hoping to find answers for. For many of them, they feel that when it comes to having help inside the classroom the Funding just isn't there.

"We don't have the money there for it to even become a thing. So then we're trying to use other people and move people around and it's weeded out," Katie Whitman a 4th grade teacher said.

The teachers shared that when it comes to the age of their building, issues can be present as well.

"From a safety standpoint, we are not in the best position. If there were a genuine lockdown or something severe because we are so congested trying to get out of the school for drills that we practice and it's very orderly if there were actually an emergency, our school is not set up for us to get out as safely as it could be," Andrea Womcak a Kindergarten teacher said.

"We often have 4 to 6 garbage cans in our halls catching rain, catching, melting snow happens every time we have some kind of storm. So we're getting ready for winter and preparing ourselves. Students are used to that. That's a really sad thing to be used to. They just know to detour around it," Darci Orchard a 3rd grade teacher said.

"For us, I mean, it would be great if we could have newer facilities or classrooms that were conducive to learning and opportunities for our kids to work in cohesive, collaborative units somewhere in the classroom. Our rooms are very small and it doesn't often lead to that kind of environment for our kids," Tina Runcorn a 2nd-grade teacher said.

The teachers shared that the teacher shortage is not helping as well. They mentioned that when they do need a sub and can't find one it can limit what they can do.

"That oftentimes means we pull a para from another grade and then that whole grade level is without that support. And so then we've got an even bigger gap in support for our students," Womack said.

They said they loved the aides that do come out and help them out. I also asked the teachers if legislation may be able to help solve the issues they face, and they challenged lawmakers to spend a day in a classroom.

"Come join us in the classroom, talk to us, ask us questions. It is a very different world teaching now than it was even when I started teaching. And it's only been 12 years," Orchard said.  

"Come in and start the day with us. End the day with us. See all the moving pieces. Because when you come in for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, you are seeing a blip of everything else. You're not seeing that we're not eating lunches because we're trying to catch up on things and we're trying to move aides around. You're not seeing that," Womack said.

The teachers also encouraged lawmakers to continue to invest in education.