Rep George Sayler fights for kids safety rights

Idaho lawmakers will have the opportunity to consider a bill to require licensing of all day care facilities with four or more unrelated children. The day-care licensing bill from Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, and Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home. Proposed and killed each year for at least the last five years, this year’s version, Corder told the panel, is “a fine piece of legislation for you to consider this year.” He said, “We cannot cover every problem or guarantee all facilities are safe all the time, but we can … protect more children than we are now.”

The bill would set minimum standards for day cares, including criminal background checks.Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene, says he is hopeful the bill introduced on Monday will pass muster with lawmakers who have declined to act on similar legislation for the past several years.

The state now licenses daycare centers with 13 or more kids and has a certification program for smaller facilities with seven or more children. Smaller daycare operations with six or fewer kids aren't subject to regulation.

House Education Committee introduces bill to elminate field trips

Last week,the House Education Committee introduced legislation that change funding for school trips and extracurricular events--HB 118.

HB 118, also sponsored by Rep. Bob Nonini (R-Coeur d’Alene), Sen. John Goedde (R-Coeur d’Alene), House Speaker Lawerence Denney (R-Midvale), and Senate President Pro Tem Robert Geddes (R-Soda Springs), would significantly change the way school districts are reimbursed for student transportation costs. Under current Idaho law, school districts are reimbursed 85% of the previous year’s bussing costs for transporting students to and from school and field trips. In effect, for every dollar a school district expends on bussing students, the state reimburses the district 85 cents the following year.

This legislation would do several things. First, it would eliminate reimbursement for student field trips. Second, it would require districts with high populations of students in centralized areas to use a different, less financially advantageous, formula for determining transportation reimbursement. Third, the state reimbursement would drop from 85% to 50% for student transportation costs, it would change reimbursement for virtual charter schools from 85% to 70%, and finally, it would reduce reimbursement for charter schools in the initial year of operation from 80% to 60%.

According to the bill sponsors, the changes outlined in HB 118 would potentially save the state millions of dollars. According, to IEA, the more likely scenario is that the savings the state would realize would be shifted to local school districts.

Idaho Legislators confronted by Educators

Teachers confront Legislators

I attended the meeting set up between Goedde and IEA president. Local Educators, legislators, and community members showed up at Coeur d Alene High School at 10am on Saturday. All legislators from Kootenai County were invited. Sayler, Goedde, and Nonini sat on the podium while Hammond and Henderson were in the audience. There was about 100 people in attendance.

Originally, this meeting was to be an opportunity to reassure teachers and educators. However, House Education Committee Chairman Bob Nonini introduced a bill last week as the legislators faced a cut of up to $109 million in the 2010 K-12 education budget. This bill proposed changes to state law that would limit contracts for teachers to a single year.

I was stunned by the angry and defensive responses from Nonini and Goedde. From my seat in the audience, it did not take long to understand that these educators were afraid about their ability to secure a future. Many of the instructors brought legitimate feedback regarding the bill. George Sayler shared the educators' concerns and added his frustration to the conversation while informing Nonini and Goedde that this was reactionary governing without foresight.

You should check out these links:

Legislation draws ire of teachers by Rick Thomas at the Coeur d Alene Press

Idaho lawmakers suggest education cuts by KXLY coverage

Hearings delayed on bill that would end multi-year teacher contracts IdahoStatesman.com

Taking a bite out of education Rexburg Standard Journal

Will Stimulus Really Save Idaho Education?
New West, MT - 23 hours ago
... Education Committee chairman Bob Nonini (R-Coeur d’Alene) postponed three days of hearings, scheduled to start Monday, on two education cost-cutting ...

Note: Nonini and Goedde both said at the Education meeting yesterday that the bill was postponed for a week until more information about the stimulus package was in but they did not say it was off the table. They said that this bill was asked for by the administrators and school board members. Though Sayler said many of those individuals never saw the final draft before printing of the bill. Nonini said that they were aware of the content and it was the direct result from what they were asked to create.


Final, question: Where was Representative Marge Chadderdon? She is the member of the House Education Committee and an elected official Leg Dist 4. Sayler was there. Goedde was there, so where was Chadderdon?

Nonini and Goedde take a swing at education!

The House Education Committee voted yesterday morning to print two bills that not only propose to reduce next year’s appropriation for public schools by millions of dollars from this year’s budget but would also gut the state’s collective bargaining law for teachers. The two bills address issues that some legislators believe are necessary for dealing with the state’s financial crisis. One of the bills (H0118) deals strictly with transportation issues will take away funding for field trips and extracurricular activities trips. In Coeur d Alene school district would lose 30% of their funding. Superintendent Hazel Bauman said this would mean that field trips would be canceled unless children and their parents paid more out of pocket expense.

The other one (H0117) lumps all the budget cuts together and substantially alters the law under which teachers have negotiated their master contracts since 1971.

This bill would

• Eliminate the Early Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP)
• Freeze one year’s worth of teacher and administrator movement on the salary schedule
• Freeze the multiplier at the current level on the statewide salary schedule
• Change the deadline for notifying employees of re-employment from May 25 to July 1
• Allow districts to reduce the pay or contract days of continuing contract teachers, even in the middle of a year, with the stipulation that any such reductions cannot impact student-teacher contact time
• Permit districts to increase the length of a contract without a commensurate salary increase
• Eliminate a formal hearing process for reduction of salary or reduction of contract time for employees and only allow them an informal review with all other affected employees in one hearing
• Allow districts to hire only 95% of the state-funded teaching positions, rather than the current 100%, without losing funding
• Reduce the number of administrative positions funded by the state by 4.7%
• Reduce the maximum length of principal and assistant superintendent contracts from two years to one year
• Specify that master contracts expire at the end of each fiscal year (June 30) and that no terms or conditions carry forward
• Grant districts the right to impose a Reduction in Force (RIF) and reduce salaries and contract days after the expiration of master contracts if a financial emergency is declared by the state

Superintendent Tom Luna has been saying that, other than eliminating ERIP, any statutory changes would be temporary. However, there is not a single sunset clause attached to any of these proposals. They would all be permanent.

How does gutting the collective bargaining and teacher contract laws help the state deal with its financial woes? The fiscal note attached to the bill answers that question by acknowledging that the bargaining provisions “do not have a fiscal impact on the state.” They are included in the legislation to “provide school districts with the additional tools and flexibility that they will need to manage a likely reduction in state funding for employee salaries.”

Bill (H0117) was introduced by Rep. Bob Nonini (R-Coeur d’Alene) who is also the chair of the House Education Committee and is co-sponsored by Speaker of the House Lawerence Denney (R-Midvale), Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Bob Geddes (R-Soda Springs), and Sen. John Goedde (R-Coeur d’Alene), chair of the Senate Education Committee.

The legislators who voted against this draconian measure were Donna Pence (D-Gooding), Liz Chavez (D-Lewiston), Branden Durst (D-Boise), Sue Chew (D-Boise) and Tom Trail (R-Moscow). They were outnumbered by Mack Shirley (R-Rexburg), Sharon Block (R-Twin Falls), Pete Nielsen (R-Mountain Home), Marge Chadderdon (R-Coeur d’Alene), Paul Shepherd (R-Riggins), Rich Wills (R-Glenns Ferry), Steven Thayn (R-Emmett), Marc Gibbs (R-Grace), Stephen Hartgen (R-Twin Falls), and Jeff Thompson (R-Idaho Falls).

Representatives Donna Boe (D-Pocatello) and Jim Marriott (R-Blackfoot) were absent and did not vote.

IEA President Sherri Wood told a reporter: “Basically, it’s an attack on collective bargaining and negotiations that have been in place since 1971. It says every contract will end at the end of the school year and you have to start all over again. That’s just an attack on educators, and has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with budget cuts. This is mean-spirited and it’s wrong, and it doesn’t need to happen.”

Sen. Shawn Keough (R-Sandpoint) told the same reporter that she is “distressed” by this far-reaching legislation. “It looks as though a sledgehammer was used when a scalpel was needed. My experience has been that the teachers union and teachers individually understand where we are with our economy, and have been trying to work with some of us …. Today’s developments are distressing …. We need everybody to pull together. This doesn’t do us any good, in my opinion.”

Note: the House and Senate Education Committees will hold a joint hearing next week, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 16, and continuing Tuesday and Wednesday. The hearing is scheduled to last until 10:30 or 11 a.m. each day. IEA President Sherri Wood will testify Monday morning and other IEA members will share their perspectives as well.

Then, on Friday, Feb. 20, Rep. Nonini and Sen. Goedde will present their committees’ recommendations for next year’s appropriation to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

The following Monday, Feb. 23, the House Education Committee will begin debating the collective bargaining bill. A vote will likely be taken shortly thereafter.

Rapid Downturn in Idaho

Recently, Kaiser Family Foundation release a report listing Idaho as number 3 in the nation. This is based on three key numbers. One in every 479 homes are in some stage of foreclosure. Our unemployment numbers show that we have almost doubled in a year. Additionally there is a 25% increase in food stamp usage. A year ago, Idaho was among one of the fastest growing states. What a difference a year can make. The housing industry sustained our economy and as this downturn continues, the ramifications are spiraling out to the hospitality trade, retail, banking, and etc.

Our state legislators are grappling with cuts, continued bad news regarding revenue, and how to stimulate our local economies. Got a suggestion, idea, or issue, take a moment and email your legislator. Contact info is on the sidebar. It will take all of us to get us back on track.


Check out the state-by-state statistics here.