If you’ve been laying out by the pool getting your tan on or decided for some crazy reason to disconnect from social media … it’s back to REALITY and time to catch up on what you missed before you head back to school.

Sizzling hot news 🔥

The state superintendent’s race kicked off and Republican incumbent Sherri Ybarra and Democratic challenger Cindy Wilson were on fire addressing hot-button education topics during a forum.  Afterwards, education leaders had concerns over some Ybarra comments.

Then we had the high state ranking from U.S. News and World Report that confused a lot of people. We tried to explain the results (or not).

The results are in

Test scores were revealed this summer in three areas. Improvements were made on Idaho’s standardized test but performance went down on college entrance exams and elementary reading tests.

• Scores improved — almost across the board — on Idaho’s standardized test. “Good news” says Ybarra.
• SAT day was a disappointment across much of Idaho. Scores fell in 18 of Idaho’s 20 largest school districts. The SDE isn’t really sure what happened.
• Reading scores dropped across the board. Ybarra placed some of the blame on the test itself.

He quit before he started

A top Ybarra staffer quit before his first day on the job and he resigned over email.

The professional fate of every Idaho educator lies in the hands of these experts. They have the authority to approve, suspend and revoke licenses.

Making a move

Enrollment growth pushed kids into a movie theater and students left their mark on a Boise school before it was demolished.

Kids and teachers

Five teens traded in civilian life for military life.  Here are 41 students who received the prestigious National Merit scholarship and find out which educators won awards.

Summer’s best photo

Other voices

State board prez: Men need to emulate women.

Union prez on teacher pay: Progress? yes. Celebration? No.

State super: I am proud of our outreach. Others? Not so much.

We blogged about it …

Kevin researched Ybarra’s attendance at state board meetings, found Idaho’s growing but it’s “old growth” and somewhere in Idaho sits an all-female school board.

Mom Blogger fought part of the summer with bored kids, and has questions about the large amount of school supplies and class fees.

National headlines …

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos garnered late-night attention when her $40 million yacht set sail without her … Ahoy Matey!

LeBron James or Betsy DeVos? James is the subject of an online petition calling for the Los Angeles Lakers star to replace DeVos as Secretary of Education. 🏀