Idaho’s Task Force for Improving Education released its final recommendations Friday. Governor Butch Otter asked the State Board of Education to create the group last December after voters rejected the education laws known as Students Come First. The 31 member task force was made up of representatives from several education groups.
Their recommendations include a unanimous recommendation to raise minimum teacher salaries from $31,000 to $40,000. Plus they want to restructure the career ladder so experienced teachers could also make more money.
They also want to revamp the state’s school funding system to focus on total enrollment rather than attendance. Members also endorsed wireless internet for all schools.
But there is a long way to go before any of these ideas become reality. At the end of Friday’s meeting Roger Brown, an advisor to the governor, said these recommendations are for Butch Otter.
“At some point, in the hopefully not too distant future, the governor will start making some decisions about where he thinks we can go, what is viable and connect the dots between the vision that you’ve created and what we believe is implementable,” Brown said.
It would be up to Otter to decide to take any recommendations to the Idaho Legislature.
Copyright 2013 Boise State Public Radio