Legislators: Students Come First Will Be Changed

The three bills that make up the Students Come First legislation will probably be changing, and those changes could be dramatic, local legislators said at an Idaho Education Association legislative sendoff Wednesday night.

The changes are happening because Students Come First was pushed through pretty quickly so not everything was ironed out, said Rep. Roy Lacey (D-Pocatello). And all of the complaints from teachers, parents and educational professionals didn’t go unnoticed either, Lacey said.

Teacher and IEA Rep. Teresa Jackman said she wanted the legislators to walk away from the event with a better understanding of how the laws will affect what teachers are able to do. Professional development was cut drastically at her school, the Roosevelt Academy, after budget cuts were put in place to make way for technology, Jackman said.

“It’s pretty disgruntling to be told that teachers aren’t doing a good job, and yet we don’t see those legislators in our classrooms. I’d love for them to come visit,” Jackman said.

Funding for Pay for Performance and infrastructure could be re-negotiated this session, Lacey said. Infrastructure to support the proposed technology changes remains a persistent problems as some schools in Idaho don’t even have internet access at all, he said. He thinks the changes will be made just to placate people so the Nov. Referendum on the bills doesn’t pass.

“And they’ll tweak this enough and they’ll probably throw some more money in here and do some changes, and delay this or that, so nobody will really feel the full effects of this until after the referendums. That’s my prediction,” Lacey said.

Rep. Jim Guthrie (R-McCammon) is a little sunnier about it. He thinks rewriting the bills will give the people what they want, he said.

“Well you know, I think it might actually help motivate some of these changes that, you know, because maybe through this discussion and the fact that they are on the ballot, you know, (we can figure out) well, what’s the problems?” Guthrie said.

Rep. Elaine Smith (D-Pocatello) said no matter what happens to the bills, schools have suffered.

“It’s had tremendous budgetary impact on every school district. You’ve seen this last year of 2011, all the supplemental (levies passed) statewide. The local people have stepped up. And education is part of the state’s responsibility and I think we need to act responsibly,” Smith said.

Legislators will also have to work with the recommendations by the Technology Task Force as they consider changing the bills.