COEUR d'ALENE — District 3 legislative candidates on Tuesday night cited different changes in education that they believe are needed.

Republican Tony Wisniewski and Democrat Dan Hanks, who are battling for the district's Position B in the House, squared off during a legislative forum sponsored by The Press at the Coeur d'Alene Library before roughly 175 people.

The district covers the western side of Kootenai County, including Post Falls, portions of Rathdrum and south to Worley.

Hanks said better teacher pay needs to be a continued priority in the Legislature.

"(Our teachers) should be the best, not the lowest-paid," he said. "Yeah, you can have a lot of creative (programs), but if you can't get good people because you're not paying them good money ... It's not good for students to have their best teachers go to Washington. We should be stealing teachers from Washington, not the other way around."

Hanks said he believes teacher pay needs to keep pace with the cost of living.

"This isn't Kansas anymore," he said. "It's getting expensive to live here."

Wisniewski said the focus in education needs to be on offering better choices.

"If you keep students engaged in school, it would open up possibilities," he said, citing more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and vocational-technical programs. "I am a big proponent of having different methods of education."

Wisniewski said fairness in teacher pay largely depends on the free market system.

The candidates weighed in on their thoughts on the two propositions that will be on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Prop 1 proposes to legalize video terminals for betting on historical horse racing in Idaho. Prop 2 expands Medicaid.

Wisniewski said he's against Medicaid expansion because it's already the largest expenditure in the state budget. On Prop 1, he said he's not against betting as long as it follows the regulations.

"I may be tempted to vote against (Prop 1) depending on the constitutionality of the machines themselves," he said, noting that they act very much like regular slot machines.

Hanks said he'd respect the will of the voters on both propositions if he's elected.

He said he supports Medicaid expansion and believes it will pass.

"This is a group who wants to work," Hanks said. "We love workers. Let's expand Medicaid."

Hanks said he doesn't believe the Legislature will challenge the horse racing proposition if it passes, but it ultimately will not pass constitutional muster.

Hanks, who owns Cultivation Counseling, said voters should realize they have the power to make big changes, including to education and expanding Medicaid.

"I'm not running against Tony," he said. "I'm running against a system that isn't in touch with the people of our community. It is through the voters that we will get things done."

Wisniewski, who is retired from engineering and involved in purchasing and managing real estate, said he's ready to serve in Boise after serving on the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.

"I'd like to keep our lifestyle in Idaho, but not to the exclusion of other people coming in," he said.

The legislative forums were live-streamed and will be re-broadcast on CdA-TV, Charter cable channel 1301, multiple times before the Nov. 6 election: Sunday and Wednesday at 2 p.m., Monday and Friday at 2 a.m., and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

It will also remain on the city's Facebook and YouTube channels for on-demand viewing.

The Kootenai County Voters Guide, featuring all county and local state legislative candidates, ran in Saturday's newspaper. A limited number of free copies are available at The Press, 215 N. Second St. in downtown Coeur d’Alene.