Voices

Jake Thornberry is one of 80 students at Compass Academy in Idaho Falls who planned and conducted a state superintendent debate between eventual winner Sherri Ybarra and Jana Jones. He shares three life lessons he learned during this political experience.

Today’s crisis in Idaho education has been caused by an amalgamation of high stakes testing, accountability, markets and privatization tied to the Common Core. Educators often feel compelled to put test preparation ahead of richer forms of teaching.

This sophisticated system of linking professional certification to compensation will most likely generate an education system devoid of innovation. Idaho should allow the marketplace of education ideas to grow and flourish.

Education Networks of America found a way to deliver internet access so Idaho students could take advantage of modern classrooms. I’m grateful the Legislature found a way to keep the IEN going in the wake of this temporary holdup.

If elected, Democrats say they will appoint a new committee that will have a much better representation of working teachers than the governor’s current tiered-licensure subcommittee.

I have known and worked with Jones for over 20 years on education, research, and public policy projects and I know her abilities.

We need to elect a senator who values people over dollars.

A.J. Balukoff makes the liberal mistake of believing that the only measure in education that matters is how much money you spend and ignores the most important factor: how you spend the money you have.