Voices

Invest in social-emotional learning.

Superintendent Mary Ann Ranells calls her administrative team “our wonderful learning leaders” and that was certainly evident in our conversations with this dynamic group.

Once again Idaho finds itself trying to fend off unnecessary challenges to the framework that provides knowledge benchmarks for our students and teachers.

For the first time in many years, a governor’s budget forces Idaho’s four-year schools to evaluate their priorities.

The results are dismal but they provide a clear picture of where we need to improve.

We need to re-think our notion of school and the time to do it is now. In fact, it is way past time!

I urge Idahoans to oppose the knee-jerk, meat cleaver approach to educational policy favored by extremist legislators and the always histrionic and chronically unhappy Idaho Freedom Foundation.

It seems inappropriate, or at least unfair, to compare a charter school’s outcomes with a school district’s outcome.

This is not going to be your typical election-year “caretaker” session, and maybe not an easy one for the governor.

Our state leadership must act with urgency unless hemorrhaging our very best educators is now an accepted status quo.