Tom Luna
Friday, February 24, 2012
Tom Luna New Recall Campaign on Blackboard
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Feb 24, 2012 at 9:26 AM
Pete Peterson, who waged a gubernatorial campaign against Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter using a "beat Butch" thong, has set his sights on Tom Luna again, testing the political waters for another possible recall effort to bounce the state superintendent of public instruction from office.
"We changed our 2012 Luna recall tactics," read a statement from Peterson, referring to the unsuccessful effort to garner 158,000 signatures to put a recall on last year's ballot. Only 50,000 valid signatures were collected.
Peterson said he has a plan to collect $30,000 to launch another statewide recall campaign, which could being on April 30.
Peterson said his effort may fail "for one of two reasons:
"People are too apathetic and defeated to get involved," or "I fail to make recallluna.com ubiquitous."
Peterson appeared to be confident, stating his intention to hold a noontime rally on Saturday, May 1, on the Statehouse steps.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Tom Luna Luna, IEA, Idaho Reporter in a Tweet-Off
Posted by George Prentice on Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 12:12 PM
While Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's Students Come First Technology Task Force was meeting at the Statehouse, some partisan comments were burning up Twitter this morning, including tweets from Luna, the Idaho Education Association, a former state representative and a writer from Idaho Reporter, a product of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, whose director, Wayne Hoffman, isn't shy about his support for the so-called Luna Laws.
This morning's tweets began when the IEA referred to Meridian School Superintendent Linda Clark's remarks at the SCF meeting that more online courses would require extra staff.
"We've been asking since January: How many Idaho jobs will be lost due to Luna's tech mandates," tweeted the IEA.
"Is eduction a jobs program?" tweeted Dustin Hurst, reporter for Idaho Reporter.
"Education has always been a major employer in every Idaho community, providing stable, middle-class jobs," tweeted the IEA.
"I understand that, I do," tweeted Hurst. "But is the point of our schools to provide jobs or to educate our kids?"
A few minutes later, the tweets continued ...
"IEA's point is that Idaho online classes may be taught by teachers in Virginia, Bangalore, or wherever," tweeted the IEA.
"The SDE [State Department of Education] has intentionally been misleading the education community and stood in the way of clarifying the law regarding this," tweeted Hurst.former Democratic Rep. Branden Durst of Boise.
That's when Luna jumped in.
"The goal of the SCF reforms is deliver our students the high quality education they deserve with the state's limited funds," tweeted Luna. "No one is working 'on the cheap.' Idaho's voters have indicated they would like an efficient system that does not raise taxes."
"Idahoans have indicated they do not like punitive reforms that target teachers, cut local control, impose mandates. See you in Nov. 2012," tweeted the IEA.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Tom Luna Luna at White House: 'Symbolic Shift' of No Child Left Behind
Posted by George Prentice on Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 2:46 PM
- UPI Newspictures
- Tom Luna with Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) at White House
Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna flew to Washington, D.C., to champion the Obama administration's new flexibility on No Child Left Behind.
"I believe this is a symbolic shift of power from the federal government back to the states," said Luna at a White House ceremony this morning.
Under a new plan, Idaho and other states can get a waiver under NCLB to create new systems of increased accountability that focus on academic growth and college and career readiness. Under the current law, states can only measure school success based on proficiency. Today, Obama announced a process for states to request waivers from the law, opening the door for new accountability systems.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Boise / Tom Luna / public schools Boise punished in ed cuts
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 12:36 PM
One of the K-12 education cuts Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna has proposed will disproportionately affect the Boise School District, according to Boise Super Stan Olson.
Moscow, Lewiston and Twin Falls schools would also be affected.
Olson and a platoon of Boise School District officials met with Democratic legislators on Monday to put some numbers to the proposed K-12 cuts. Of the $62 million in cuts that Luna has floated, $8 to $10 million would come from the Boise School District coffers.
“We’re very opposed to this,” Olson said of the busing cuts. “We’ve spent a lot of money to get under the cap.”
The state reimburses districts for most of their transportation costs based on either a cost-per-mile or a cost-per-pupil equation—whichever comes in cheaper, below a statewide average. The cost-per-mile measure has incentivized the Boise School District to encourage walking, investing in crossing guards and building a new bus facility.
If they had to rely on the cost-per-student formula, BSD would get less money back, to the tune of $1.45 million.
Luna spokeswoman Melissa McGrath responded:
Superintendent Luna does not want to make these cuts. He has said they are all bad ideas, and we understand that these bad ideas will negatively impact school districts in one way or another. It is unfortunate that we have to suggest cuts like this, but given the economic realities we are now facing, these budget reductions are necessary to meet revenue projections.Other proposed cuts that would filter down to Boise schools:
- $1.6 million in discretionary funds
- $91,000 for field trips and other transportation
- 4.1 full time equivalent administrative positions
- Millions of dollars in teacher salary cuts
- $300,000 for textbooks
- $50 for supplies in every classroom ($72,000 total)
Thursday, November 6, 2008
schools / Tom Luna / No Child Left Behind Luna extends PLATO contract
Posted by Nathaniel Hoffman on Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 8:16 PM
Idaho schools' chief Tom Luna has negotiated a 90-day extension to the state's contract with Plato Learning, a Minnesota-based online and computerized education company that provides remediation services to many IDaho students who fail Idaho's graduation tests.
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