I try not to mix into partisan politics, but sometimes it is unavoidable. I support public education, and I oppose those trying to privatize it for fun and/or profit.
For example, Tony Bennett in Indiana should be defeated, as should Tom Luna in Idaho. These two state superintendents are favored by corporate reformers and can be counted on to continue welcoming for-profit enterprises to take over public schools and children.
In Idaho, a solid red state, there is an educator running against Luna. The Luna forces typically paint Clayton Trehal as a tool of the “union bosses,” but neglect to acknowledge that Idaho is a right to work state where the teachers’ union is weak.
Luna is a favorite of corporations and vendors, but that’s ok.
Trehal is an online teacher who opposes for-profit management of online instruction. He says that what students remember best about his classes are the essays he assigned, not the tests they took.
As a Democrat running in Idaho, he knows he is in an uphill battle. But his goal is to educate the public. He is a teacher. That’s what teachers do.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And the Idaho Virtual Academy promoted by Luna uses the K12 Inc curriculum. Funny how K12 was a major campaign contributor and now Luna is requiring all high school students to take online classes. Here in Idaho teachers like myself are actively working to defeat this measure of Propositions 1, 2, and 3. The legislation that passed earlier this year not only required online classes, but limited negotiations, and merit pay. The teachers union was able to get enough signatures to put it to the public because the legislation is not good for students, for teachers, for education in Idaho.
Luna’s pay for performance is a nebulous concept. Here’s how it works at my school. As a high school teacher, I see a student for 9 or 18 weeks in a given year. S/he has five other teachers within that year, and probably ten or more the previous year. Because that student excels on his/her state standardized test, we all are eligible for a bonus. However, if the student fails, who’s to blame? According to Mr. Luna the whole school must be punished, put on probation, or closed. As teachers we care about that student’s performance and work tirelessly to improve it, but none of us is exclusively entitled to the success. In most cases it is the parents who merit the bonus!
Limiting negotiations to exclude such issues as class size is also a defeatist effort. If students are to pass state assessments, how will teachers effectively work to prepare them if they will have 35 or more students in a class? Indeed, where will the teacher find time to be able to work one-on-one with underachievers?
In addition, Luna has promised laptops for all 9th graders. Laptops for students is a nice idea, but it is really part of Luna’s backscratching deal with K12 Inc. to support his requirement that all high school students take on-line classes.
We are anxious to change things here in Idaho.
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Darlene,
TY for fighting the fight in Idaho. I wish you all the luck in the world.
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I am a teacher who aspires to teach online. I am enrolled in a master’s level professional development certificate program at the University of Central Florida; and I KNOW that online classes can be rigorous. Quality online teaching requires a new pedagogy and skills that go beyond interpreting learning analytics. Good online teachers need to communicate with students and to establish ways for students to collaborate with classmates.
This summer I was interviewed for two online teaching positions, and did not get the job. As I reflected on my interview, the only reason I can think that I was NOT hired, was that I asked a question about how many students I would be responsible for teaching. That was a RED Flag to the interviewer.
Class size matters in online teaching. For-profit companies want naive teachers who will be “efficient”, and who will not blink at having 275 students.
I am glad to see that an online teacher is running for public office. Online teaching is in need of regulation by the state as it becomes more prominent.
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