Governor Appoints New Education Task Force "Our Kids, Idaho's Future"

The Governor’s Education Task Force: “Our Kids, Idaho’s Future"

Governor Brad Little appointed a 26-member task force which recently held its first meeting. After an address from a state economist and Governor Little, the task force entered into an organizational discussion about future meetings, subcommittees and its mission. The task force consists of education stakeholders from around the state -- with both familiar and new faces. You can read more about the task force here.

Governor Little’s “Our Kids, Idaho’s Future” Task Force members include:

Task Force Members

Teachers, School Administrators, and Education Stakeholders

• Debbie Critchfield, President, Idaho State Board of Education — Co-Chair

• Sherri Ybarra, Superintendent of Public Instruction

• Marc Beitia, American Falls High School teacher and 2019 Idaho Teacher of the Year

• Kari Overall, President, Idaho Education Association

• Jennifer Parkins, Board Chair, Genesee Joint School District and Idaho School Boards Association (ISBA) President

• Jody Hendrickx, Trustee, St. Maries School District and ISBA Vice President

• Erin McCandless, Idaho State PTA President

• Mary Ann Ranells, Superintendent, West Ada School District

• Luke Schroeder, Superintendent, Kimberly School District

• Cheryl Charlton, Superintendent, Idaho Digital Learning Academy

• Pete Koehler, retired Chief Deputy Superintendent and former Nampa High School Principal and Superintendent

• Terry Ryan, CEO, Bluum, Boise

Business Leaders

• Bill Gilbert, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Caprock, Boise — Co-Chair

• Kurt Liebich, CEO, RedBuilt, Boise

• Matt Van Vleet, Government Affairs Director, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Lewiston

• Katherine Hart, Associate General Counsel, Melaleuca, Idaho Falls

• Juan Alvarez, Deputy Director for Management and Operations, INL, Idaho Falls

• Shawn Keough, Executive Director, Associated Logging Contractors, Coeur d’Alene

Legislators

• Senator Chuck Winder, Majority Leader, Idaho Senate

• Senator Dean Mortimer, Idaho Senate Education Committee

• Senator Janie Ward-Engelking, Idaho Senate Education Committee and Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee

• Representative Mat Erpelding, Minority Leader, Idaho House of Representatives

• Representative Jason Monks, Assistant Majority Leader, Idaho House of Representatives

• Representative Lance Clow, Idaho House Education Committee

• Representative Gary Marshall, Idaho House Education Committee

• Representative Wendy Horman, Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee

2019 Wrap Up of the Idaho Legislature

2019 Legislative Wrap

Here are some resources to check out for a recap of the 2019 session of the Idaho Legislature.

S 1106 CTE Modernization Bill: This legislation modifies Title 33 to clarify that career technical education includes all secondary, postsecondary, and adult courses, programs, training and services, irrespective of instructional delivery method. This bill clarifies that virtual Career Technical Education (CTE) programs which meet the same quality requirements and demonstrate compliance with the Idaho CTE Initiative may be authorized by Idaho CTE. This modernizes CTE language to include all instructional delivery methods and better positions Idaho to meet demands of modern-day workforce.

S 1107 Equal footing for all education delivery methods: This legislation modifies 33-1004 to remove the sunset provision that allows school districts and public charter schools to receive salary-based apportionment based on adjusted mid-term support units, if full-term support units are at least 3% greater than mid-term support units. The adjustment is equal to 75% of the difference between full-term support units and mid-term support units. For example, salary-based apportionment for a school district or charter school with 100 mid-term unites and 104 full-term support units would be based on 103 support units. This provision enables the minority of schools, which experience enrollment growth as the school year progresses, to receive additional funding for those students. The original legislation passed in 2016 with a 3-year sunset. This bill removes the sunset.

H 293 Enrollment Data Collection: This bill is mostly comprised of definitions needed for a Student Based Funding Formula (SBFF), and some reporting of student enrollment data. In preparation for SBFF discussions during the 2020 legislative session school districts will report student enrollment figures in the fall of 2019, in addition to average daily attendance (ADA). Districts will report overall student enrollment numbers, along with enrollments in the sub-categories of special education, low income, English language learners, and gifted and talented. With this parallel data, both ADA and enrollment, the legislature and stakeholders will be able to better determine the fiscal impact per district of a new Student Based Funding Formula.

H293, S1106 and S1107 are not mentioned in most of these recaps, but they are important bills for charter schools.

Idaho Statesman – Cynthia Sewell: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article229137614.html

AP – Keith Ridler: https://apnews.com/c6bb776a986d441aaa3d4347d29c7492

JKAF’s Idaho Ed News: https://www.idahoednews.org/news/the-2019-legislature-what-happened-what-didnt/ and https://www.idahoednews.org/news/the-2019-legislative-session-adjourns/

National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Presentation of Recommendations: https://www.idahoednews.org/news/national-group-recommends-higher-standards-for-idaho-charters/

Idaho Press, Betsy Russell: https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/legislative-session-wraps-up-with-many-challenges-unaddressed/article_79f833e9-6bd9-528a-9781-2f1951d6e4e2.html

Idaho Public Television, Idaho Reports: https://video.idahoptv.org/video/the-rules-dont-apply-ug5dxl/

Public School Funding Formula Speech

The Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families Speech at the Joint Senate/ House Education Committee from 02/07/2019:

Tom LeClaire

1923 E Pratt

Meridian, ID 83642

2087246571

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee,

My name is Tom LeClaire and I am the president of the Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families.  We are a Coalition of parents, grandparents, students and teachers who support the expansion of school choice in Idaho, equal funding for charter schools, and funding that "follows the child" to the school of their choice.   I am here today to support the public-school funding formula change.

The new funding formula will be more student-centered and less program-centered.  There will be more local control and spending flexibility for school districts, full funding will follow students as they move from one school to another, and charter schools will be better funded. 

Many charter school students fall under the specially weighted groups in the model such as mobile students, at-risk students, ELL students, and students with disabilities. The current funding formula punishes charter schools for taking on many of these special students.

The new formula is more student-centered and will allow for funding to better follow students as they move from one school to another. This will have a positive effect for charter schools in Idaho and the students that rely on and need them.

Voters in Idaho also support school choice and I think they will support your efforts to modernize the funding formula.  Over 70% of voters support charter schools and improving school choice for parents. 

The Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families will be vigilant during this session of the Idaho Legislature to be sure that the new student-centered funding formula does not get "watered down."  During this legislative process we will have parent advocates available to help you learn and support school choice.

We want school choice to get the fair funding it deserves. We hope you consider the families that we represent and vote for this new funding model.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to promote school choice and offer support for improving the public school funding formula.

Another day, another attack on virtual charter schools in Idaho

“Another day, another attack on virtual charter schools in Idaho”

02/06/2019

Recently, there has been an article published called “How is Idaho Charter School Performance Like a Clint Eastwood Movie?” on the Idaho Ed News website from the CEO of BLUUM, Terry Ryan. This article breaks down his charter school views into three categories; the good, the bad and the ugly. The ugly being virtual charter schools in Idaho.

Link to article https://www.idahoednews.org/voices/how-is-idaho-charter-school-performance-like-a-clint-eastwood-movie/

This article is a direct attack on virtual charter school families in the state of Idaho. This constant attack on our virtual schools fails to understand the many important and personal reasons these families chose the virtual school environment. As we have said for many years, the option for school choice should be provided for every family to the school that they see fit. There are many Idaho families that have chosen virtual schooling due to bullying, health concerns, military families, etc. This article from BLUUM once again fails to reason with the many challenges facing virtual option families.

Along with the personal reasons that these schools help families, the article also created a negative break down on the performance of online charter schools in Idaho. To quote the article, “we promised to, increase the number of quality charter schools seats by 8,200 students, especially for our most educationally disadvantaged and rural students”. The charter schools under BLUUM enroll students that are educationally disadvantaged, in-poverty or with disabilities, at a severely lower rate than that of virtual schools. In fact, virtual schools enroll about 10% more students in poverty than brick-and-mortar charter school in Idaho.

There are many current successes in Idaho’s virtual schools. In fact, Idaho Virtual Academy’s 2018 High School ISAT proficiency levels in ELA and Math were both higher than the state averages. On top of that, Idaho Virtual Academy has increased their graduation 43.2% in the past five years. 

Parents and students in Idaho are capable of choosing what educational model works best for them. We don’t need higher elitist charter school groups telling us what works for our student and what doesn’t.

Coalition Response to CREDO presentations at House/ Education Committees

RELEASE: Idaho Parents Respond to CREDO's Attack on Parent/Student Choice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Today’s CREDO report diminishes the important personal reasons many students and parents choose a virtual school environment, according to the Idaho parents who comprise the Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families. In addition, it ignores vital data about the current success enjoyed by virtual schools in Idaho.

Marjie Magee, Coalition board member said, “If it wasn’t such a serious assault on the well-being of my family and my child, I would almost be able to laugh at the concept of a so-called expert from the Bay Area, California lecturing Idaho parents on the best education options for our families,” said Marjie. “While these so-called experts turn my child into just another number on their spreadsheets, I am the one sitting across from him/her at the kitchen table. Virtual education works for my child and thousands of families across Idaho and the nation. No amount of manipulated, cherry-picked data from these self-appointed experts can change that fundamental, unalterable truth.”

A few actual facts for context:

-Idaho Virtual Academy’s graduation rate improved 7 percentage points to 67% from the 2017 cohort to the 2018 cohort. It has improved from 23.8% in 2014 to 67% now, a 43.2 percentage point increase in just five years.

-IDVA’s 2018 ISAT proficiency levels in ELA and math were both higher than the state average.

“It’s simple, choice is good for parents and it’s good for students,” Marjie said. “Maybe next time the so-called experts from California can spend less time on their spreadsheets and more time speaking with the people whose lives their trying to disrupt.”