Mail Box- Luna Laws prohibit funding, futures
Propositions 1, 2, and 3 (the Luna Laws) will be harmful to the education of students in Idaho if they pass this November.
As someone who has attended school in Idaho for my entire scholastic career, I acknowledge Idaho’s educational system is already behind the times in comparison to other states in the region.
Several problems arise with the idea of the Luna Laws being passed. Children having laptops will not make them better students. In fact, many students who learn best kinesthetically will not learn as well in online classes, and many students will do the bare minimum to get a decent grade.
Having more classes online for K-12 students will take away from the social learning aspects that are gained from being in a classroom with other students.
Idaho should focus on the fact that many students in public schools cannot understand the material on a standardized test because they are not able to read at grade level and many of them do not speak English well. Giving students a quality education is as much about the experience as it is about learning the material.
A great teacher can change a child’s whole attitude toward school.
However, if these laws are passed, teachers will not be able to help students to explore their creativity and figure out what they are good at if they are consumed with getting high scores on standardized tests to save their jobs.
If students learn just what it takes to do well on the test, they won’t know how they can apply the concepts they learn outside of the classroom.
I know there is a need to meet the same standards as other countries when it comes to education, but we shouldn’t jeopardize a student’s ability to expand their creativity to do so.
—Samantha Flaherty
Senior, advertising
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I could address all three of the Propositions but I’ll stick to Prop 3 because it so easily illustrates there are things seriously wrong with the legislation as passed. Prop 3 REQUIRES every single student in high school in Idaho to pass two online courses in order to graduate. The original proposal of the law required 6 online courses but Superintendent Luna was asked to tone it down to be palatable to Idaho’s citizens. (Obviously, it wasn’t toned down enough.) While I know the research to date shows that an online course is not as effective for learning for high schoolers as face to face course work, I can understand that some students might find a course that would be interesting and beneficial. I could understand if they were given a CHOICE to take a few online courses and receive credit for doing so. It’s also inline with the basic principles of freedom represented by the Republican Party, the political party that controls our government in Idaho. I choose to live in Idaho so I know I will, from time to time, encounter political ideas that differ from my more progressive ideas. But this is not a conservative, freedom promoting law – it REQUIRES courses and it is impossible to make the case that this is best for ALL students in Idaho high schools.
There is no clear and obvious reason for this particular law to force our citizens to take online courses. I can guess at the strategic reasons – for example, it will reduce the need and number of certified teachers working in Idaho schools, this saving money. While I understand the desire to save money, strategically this will damage our ability to provide a good education, so it is not a positive use of government control.
Proposition 3 needs to be repealed.
Now let me start on Prop 1 & 2… Ok, I won’t because I promised I would only do one, but check it out. One of them reduces the money available for teacher salaries to provide bonuses for some teachers. The starting wage in Idaho is already under $30,000 – which is a ridiculous and low wage for a person with a college degree – and usually, closer to two.
These are bad legislation and need to be overturned. Vote NO on Props 1, 2 and 3.