As I followed the deliberations of the state Legislature and the education proposals, I was amazed to read the articles in the Coeur d'Alene Press and thought surely they must be covering two different issues. The headlines alone gave the entire story: "Educators First" and "Collective Protection" screamed at us that teachers were being threatened and the Legislature would destroy education.

First, teachers are important. We all remember that teacher who encouraged and motivated us in our education. (We also may remember a few teachers who were deadly boring in their presentations.) Being an educator is a high calling and having the best for our children is a priority for everyone. How we get there with the resources available is the issue.

Second, labor unions like Idaho Education Association (IEA-NEA) are obviously working for the same things all unions seek for their members. Those being more money and benefits, less work, more time off and job security.

Third, we have to face facts that the state of Idaho is facing a budget shortfall of $140 million and when you realize that public education takes about 17 percent of the state budget, there has to be cuts in this area also. Do we take a meat cleaver and cut across the board or attempt to allow schools to be creative and flexible in their staffing decisions?

STUDENTS COME FIRST

The proposals have provided for the following:

* Investments in technology

* Paying for college credits for those students who have met requirements for graduation

*Increasing starting pay for new teachers to $30,000; implementing a pay for performance system to reward outstanding teachers

* Eliminate tenure and replace with a two-year rolling contract for new teachers

* Forbid seniority as the only criteria to determine layoffs; tie at least a portion of teacher and administrator evaluations to student performance

* Give locally elected leaders more flexibility to manage year to year and to streamline collective bargaining

These are some of the highlights and have caused most of the controversy. One net effect would be larger class sizes and yet increasing class size by one or two students saves nearly $100 million and doesn't make our average class size much different than Washington's or Oregon's. Utah spends about $1,000 less per student than Idaho and yet test scores are as good or better.

Tenure is an issue that many states are looking at ending. Even Illinois, which has a Democratic governor and Legislature, is looking at changes and applying performance as a key criteria. Let's face it, as a nation we have spent billions and the nation and state have poured increasing amounts of money without real change.

WHAT WAS LEFT OUT?

Tom Luna made a beginning foray into some fundamental reform but unfortunately failed to tackle some bigger issues:

* I would have hoped he would have proposed real compensation reform. The raising of the beginning salary was fine, however, the real problem is the salary schedule itself that has a grid and matrix that forces large percentage raises across the board whenever the starting salary is raised.

The schedule should be squeezed tighter to allow teachers to move up quicker on a pay scale and more of the pay tied to incentives. We lose too many good teachers in the early years who don't want to wait a decade to make a decent wage. Too many people in any profession have the same experience 20 times over instead of 20 years of growth. We compete to hire the best football coach and give him incentives based on performance - why wouldn't we do that with a chemistry, math or English teacher?

* We haven't brought in one of the most important features of our free market society, COMPETITION! Charter schools should be expanded. Look at the test scores at the Cd'A Charter Academy and compare them to the public schools locally. It is jaw dropping! We should consider a voucher system or tax credits for education costs and tuition.

In a scientific poll conducted of 1,000 likely Idaho voters, nearly half are not satisfied with the state's current public school system - 47 percent rate it as "poor" or "fair." If we exclude the one out of five voters who are undecided the number jumps to 59 percent. Sixty-seven percent like school choice such as a charter school and 60 percent say they are favorable to school vouchers.

Here is the most shocking number in the poll: When asked, "If it was your decision and you could select any type of school, what would you select in order to obtain the best education for your child? ONLY 12 PERCENT CHOSE A REGULAR PUBLIC SCHOOL IN IDAHO! Thirty-nine percent said they would choose a private school, 25 percent a charter school, 21 percent homeschool and 3 percent virtual school.

Two recent movies, "Waiting For Superman" and "The Lottery," are heartbreaking as they recount the failure of what has happened to education in this country and the desire for a competitive system that will deliver. If you read the platform of the IEA you see that two of their goals are to see more regulations on charter schools and homeschooling.

* Someone in state government will have to address the whole issue of unfunded employee pensions. Here is the sales pitch from Idaho's own website:

"When you retire, the PERSI Base Plan will pay you every month for as long as you live, and if you choose a Contingent Annuitant at retirement, after you die that person will continue receiving a benefit for the rest of his or her life.

"You 'make back' every dollar you put into the PERSI Base Plan within about your first three and a half years of retirement. For instance, say you put $60,000 into PERSI during your career. If your monthly benefit is $1,500, you will receive your $60,000 back in just over three years. But, we will continue paying you that $1,500 (plus yearly Cost of Living Adjustments - COLAs) every month for the rest of your life. If you are retired for another 30 years, you will receive another $540,000 from PERSI (plus COLAs - so the value will really be much higher). It would be extremely difficult to find another investment with such a secure, long-term return."

Do you wonder who pays the $540,000 in the example? We do for all employees. Idaho has more than a $2.5 billion unfunded pension plan!

SUMMARY

To be fair, I am not blaming teachers or administrators for all of the failings of schools or performance. Parents and society in general share responsibility also. Teachers, however, need to realize that they need to be willing to raise professional standards and become the models of respect they once were. Be willing to be judged on performance and accept change. I believe that the IEA/NEA has been effective winning some battles but is losing the war.

Unfortunately the limits of space prevent me from covering so many important issues but I would ask the citizenry to educate yourself by walking through the schools and see what is going on, read Tom Luna's proposals and the policies and labor agreements that your school district has adopted. Please educate yourself.

Bob Shillingstad taught in high schools in Montana for 13 years, then assisted Montana school districts with labor relations and personnel issues for two years. He then spent a career as a partner with a multi-national firm prior to retiring. He resides in Kootenai County.