AG says Idaho teachers can still get bonuses

Idaho teachers will still get about $38 million in merit-pay bonuses this year, despite voters’ rejection of public schools chief Tom Luna’s education overhaul.

The Idaho attorney general says the failure at the polls shouldn’t affect the payout.

In an opinion made public Monday, deputy attorney general Andrew Snook wrote that teachers who qualified for the bonuses earned them for the 2011-2012 school year – before Luna’s merit pay law was voted down Nov. 6.

Voters broadly panned Luna’s laws, rejecting not only the merit-pay provisions but also limits on collective bargaining and a $180 million contract for laptops for high school students.

At a press conference Monday, Luna told reporters he hopes to resurrect a portion of his “Students Come First” package during the 2013 Legislature, including merit pay.