For those who haven't been following this story, and may have just read Joan McCarter's front page piece, this should provide you with better insight into what's really at stake in in Idaho's "Student's Come First" education reform package. Tom Luna is the State Superintendant of Education, having just been re-elected after running on a platform of how well the State's educational programs were doing, and how good Idaho's educational system is. He ran against Stan Olson, former Superintendant of the Boise School District, Idaho's largest school district. Of 6 Idaho high schools ranked in the top 1500 by Newsweek, 4 are in the BSD. Dr. Olson repeatedly asked, throughout the campaign and during the televised debates, "where is the educational reform plan?" Mr. Luna continually insisted he had no such plan; none was needed, he was doing a good job as Superintendant, and our schools were never better.
Two months after the election, Mr. Luna released his plan to reform Idaho's woefully inadequate education system, eventually acknowledging that he had put the plan together "in November." With the Governor. Without consulting with the Idaho Education Association, or local school districts, or any other stakeholders.