Tom Luna reacts to failed propositions

Wednesday was a stressful morning for Idaho State Superintendent Tom Luna.

As ballots were being counted, Luna was upbeat about these propositions that he worked two years to develop. It was a long wait for everyone in Idaho to find out if Propositions 1, 2 and 3 had passed or failed. But on Wednesday morning, the result was that Idaho had rejected all three.

“Proposition 1 has worked for two years in our schools. Proposition 3 is something that we really start next year and, because people haven’t experienced and lived with Proposition 3, that might be the tough one,” said Luna as results were coming in.

Luna spent the final days of his campaign for the “Students Come First” overhaul promoting the message that teacher’s unions are putting their interests above children.

After the results were in, he released the following statement:

“I still believe that Idahoans want better schools through education reform. I still believe that empowering local school boards, phasing out tenure, giving parents input on evaluations, helping students take dual credit, paying teachers for more than just years of experience and amount of education, and making sure every classroom is a 21st century classroom are critical if we want an education system that meets the needs of every child. We have now had a 22-month discussion about what this should look like. I understand Idahoans have expressed concerns, yet I do not believe any Idahoan wants to go back to the status quo system we had two years ago. I am as committed as anyone to finding a way to make this happen. We must find a way because our children’s future is at stake.”

For more details on the propositions, see http://goo.gl/FEod1.