A bill to stop teacher pay cuts enacted through Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna’s 2011 education reforms is one step closer to being law.
Senators voted unanimously to approve the bill Thursday, sending it the House for hearing.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, one of Luna’s chief foes in the last year’s contentious education reform debates.
The cut was originally enacted to shift money from a pool used to pay teachers to pay for technology in classrooms, including providing laptops for all Idaho high school students.
Cameron’s bill will cost about $34 million through the next few years, though the bulk of that will come in 2013 and 2014. It’s expected to cost the state $18 million to reverse the teacher pay cuts in 2013.
Along with the tech upgrades, Luna’s education reforms also included $30 million for teacher merit pay. Cameron says his bill would ask his budget committee to find funding for everything in the plan, something he is hopeful can be accomplished.
