WAEA: After The Bell...

In our second episode of interviews with local candidates, we sit down with Terry Gilbert who is the IEA endorsed Democratic nominee running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

We discuss Mr. Gilbert's background, the difference between Democrats and Republicans on education, his priorities if elected, school funding, and many other topics.

Read more about Terry and his campaign here. 

Miss Monday's WA Board meeting and need a quick summary of the important events? We catch up with Sue Darden, our diligent WA Observer, to get the run-down on on all the issues of the evening.

In this episode we discuss:

• Textbook committees 
• Policy changes/updates
• Policy vs. procedures
• Continuing bussing issues
• Middle school late work policy committee

You can read Sue's fantastic notes on the meeting here!

In our first episode of interviews with local candidates, we sit down with Debbie Critchfield who is the Republican nominee running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

We discuss Ms. Critchfield's background, what her priorities would be if elected, school funding, and many other topics.

Read more about Debbie and her campaign here. 

Sue is gone this week, so we sit down with WAEA Vice-President Carmi Scheller to recap the important take-aways from the September 12th WA Board of Trustees meeting. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Facilities Survey
• Bussing
• Continuous Improvement Plan (3rd reading)
• Communications Policy Update (2nd Reading)
• L2 Form Approval (3rd Reading)
• Door-Locking Procedure 

Watch the  meeting here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nTr8MmeOwg

On September 1st, 2022, Governor Brad Little called the Idaho Legislature back for an extraordinary session to vote on a bill that utilized a chunk of the state's record budget surplus to address the effects of inflation.  While most of the bill was going towards tax refunds, a significant portion of these monies was reserved for K-12 education. The bill passed with bipartisan support and has since been signed into law, but there still remains a lot of confusion surrounding the timing of the bill and questions about its possible effects. 

We sit down with the IEA endorsed candidate and incumbent House Representative from District 15,  Steve Berch, to discuss what happened in the special session, what he has learned about Idahoans' concerns while door-knocking in his district, and the precarious future of education in our state.

Learn more about Steve and his campaign here. 

 

Blake Lyman is in his 3rd year teaching elementary music; he is also a brand new member of the association AND the WAEA's treasurer on the executive board. We talk with Blake about why he joined the association and what motivated him to get so deeply involved in its functions so quickly.

Learn more about the smoky room experiment and the "diffusion of responsibility" here. 

Miss Monday's WA Board meeting and need a quick summary of the important events? We catch up with Sue Darden, our diligent WA Observer, to get the run-down on on all the issues of the evening.

In this episode we discuss:

• The Special Legislative Session called by Gov. Little (pre-press conference) 
• New door locking procedures
• West Ada Transportation System
• New fee hearing

You can read Sue's fantastic notes on the meeting here!

Miss Monday's WA Board meeting and need a quick summary of the important events? We catch up with Sue Darden, our diligent WA Observer, to get the run-down on on all the issues of the evening
. 
In this episode we discuss:

• Standards Referenced Grading
• The final reading of Policy 401.20
• The West Ada Education Foundation presentation

Find out more about the Education Foundation here.

You can read Sue's fantastic notes on the meeting here!

Getting out of the yearly cycle of existential threats to public education will require electing more politicians with a practical understanding of education as well as real empathy for educators. One such political hopeful is Natalie MacLachlan, a WA theatre teacher and WAEA member who is running for the House of Representatives in Idaho District 22A. 

We sit down with Ms. MacLachlan to talk about teaching, what inspired her to throw her hat in the ring, and what she would focus on if elected. 

You can learn more about Natalie's platform as well as reach out to help from her website at Natalie4idaho.com  

Miss Monday's WA Board meeting and need a quick summary of the important events? We catch up with Sue Darden, our diligent WA Observer, to get the run-down on on all the issues of the evening
. 
In this episode we discuss:

• Bub's Update
• Policy 401.20 + Patron input
• 5 new revised policies introduced by our new Deputy Superintendent Nick Smith
• The work session on district communications

You can read Sue's fantastic notes on the meeting here!