GILBERT SAYS CRITCHFIELD BACKS VOUCHERS, WOULD OPEN DOOR TO FOR-PROFIT SCHOOLS

“She Can’t Run Away from the Republican Party Platform and Her Own Words,” Gilbert says. 

School Superintendent candidate Terry Gilbert says his opponent supports voucher legislation, which would open the door to for-profit education, contrary to Idaho’s Constitution.

Gilbert points to Mrs. Critchfield’s support of the Republican Party Platform, adopted in July, which clearly supports vouchers. It has this to say on the subject:

“We believe in improving the quality of education for every child by maximizing parental choice. This will be accomplished through money following students to their parents’ school of choice. 

In other words, vouchers.

The party website also requires each candidate to commit to an “integrity” statement, which reads:

“Except for the provisions specifically noted below, I support the Idaho Republican Party Platform and accept it as the standard by which my performance as a candidate and as an officeholder should be evaluated.”

Noting that Mrs. Critchfield did not list any provisions with which she disagreed, Gilbert said we must take her at her word:  “By her own words, she supports the platform and she supports vouchers,” Gilbert said. He noted that she has also said she is “open” to vouchers.

Gilbert said the language in the Republican Party Platform is both deceptive, since parents already have school choice, and in conflict with the Idaho Constitution, which reads:

“The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”

“Vouchers are nothing but a scheme put forth by the Idaho Freedom Foundation, its acolytes in the legislature, and its out-of-state corporate funders to destroy public schools and line investors’ pockets,” Gilbert said. “Public money belongs in public schools.”

Gilbert said we should have learned our lesson in the 1980s with the disaster of private prisons. “But these profiteers don’t give up and now they’re after your children,“ he said.

GILBERT DECRIES IDAHO BUDGET SURPLUS IDAHO SITS ON $1.3 BILLION SURPLUS; CITES LACK OF STATE LEADERSHIP

“The State of Idaho is cheating its children and their families by amassing a $1.3 billion surplus while underfunding education and pushing the cost onto homeowners through constant school bonds and levies,” stated Terry Gilbert, Democratic candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction Idaho today.

“Idaho needs a school funding trigger law that will devote at least 50% of any state surplus to education, including paying off school bonds to lower property taxes,“ he announced. “We must stop this fraud on our children and the financial burden on homeowners and renters.”

To support his proposal, he pointed to the decades long scrimping on education funding.

“Why does Idaho have $1.3 billion in the bank while forcing patrons to pay for education by forcing school districts to constantly raise their property taxes, including through annual bonds and levies needed to close the funding gap created by the state?” he asked. “This is a failure of state leadership.”

Supplemental levies against taxpayers have increased from $140 million in 2011-12 school year to $218 million in 1920-21,” he stated.

“Why is Idaho facing an impending and unprecedented shortage of an estimated 900 teachers when we have $1.3 billion in the bank, a shortage that will hit rural schools especially hard?”

“Why does Idaho rank in at the bottom of all states in per student funding when we have a $1.3 billion surplus?”

“Why do classroom aid salaries rank dead last in the nation?”

“Why does Idaho have the 6th highest ratio of student to teachers according to the National Education Association rankings?” he stated.

“Why do we have inexperienced persons fill classroom positions with this kind of surplus?” he queried.

“Why do we have a difficult time convincing experienced staff to remain in Idaho instead of being lured by other states offering better compensation and a more supportive work environment?”

“Finally, why does the Idaho Legislature continue to ignore the Idaho Supreme Court who ruled in 2005 that Idaho’s funding of educational facilities was wholly inadequate to meet its constitutional requirement. A recent study revealed it would take $874 million to bring our public school facilities up to good condition, The state’s failure to meet this obligation guarantees that homeowners will be voting on school bonds and levies nearly every year – forever.” he said.

“According to our history of underfunding education without pressure of a trigger law, our state leaders will continue shortchanging our school children and their families,” he concluded.

THE NOT-SO-SECRET WAR ON OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

By Terry Gilbert, Democratic Candidate for Superintendent of Public Education

Don’t be fooled this election year when you hear candidates talk about “school choice.” It sounds good, but it’s really an all-out attack on our public schools by those who would destroy them for profit, at our children’s expense and at the expense of the schools that are the heart and soul of our communities.

As a lifelong educator and candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction, I urge you to keep an eye out for those buzzwords. The issue is critical, and its outcome may be determined by my race.

Proponents of state funding for private schools say parents need more “choice” in education. The truth is that parents have many choices when it comes to education – neighborhood schools, magnet schools, charter schools, innovation schools. But the profiteers want to line their own pockets and slowly starve our public schools to death.

This covert war has been raging for years, but with the rise of extremism and the absence of leadership from our State Department of Education, those who would replace public schools with for-profit schools have started to come out of the woodwork. Their water-carriers are the Idaho Freedom Foundation and its acolytes in the legislature. The President of the IFF calls our public schools “grotesque,” and says “The government should not be in the education business.” One of his loyal followers in the Legislature, Judy Boyle of Midvale, says “Our public schools can use some competition.”

The idea that our public schools are “grotesque” is in itself grotesque; as for “competition,” the only thing that would do would be to weaken and eventually destroy our public schools.

For all of American history, as I taught my students, free public schools have been the foundation of our democracy, and are enshrined in the Constitutions of many states. Idaho’s language reads: “The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho to establish and maintain a general uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”

We can – and will – debate whether the legislature has met its Constitutional mandate, but there is no question that the concept of profit-making schools is anathema to our Constitution and our way of life.

In my 40-plus years of teaching, public education advocacy and mentoring elementary students, I have seen the wisdom of our Constitutional mandate up close and personal. And I can tell you that it is the very foundation of our society, and our last and best bulwark against authoritarianism and tyranny.

And do not think for a moment that “school choice,” as it is being espoused in my race, is an Idaho idea. The money comes largely from out-of-state, from the for-profit educational corporations and others who share their agenda. It is “dark money” in the worst sense of those words.

So don’t be fooled this election year. And let’s tell those profiteers to go back where they came from.

Letter to the editor

Malloy’s column in Sunday’s has confirmed my belief that my opponent for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction lacks courage, imagination and is out of touch with Idaho parents.

Gov. Little’s proposal to send at least $400 million to improve Idaho education has produced a political earthquake as he wisely listened to voices of the 97,000 people who signed the initiative supporting the Quality Education Act. Let’s hope the legislature follows the Governor’s lead.

My opponent said, “We can’t just say that education needs more money. For what? And where?”

A recent Idaho poll by Republican-leaning American Viewpoint revealed the following:

• 91% of Idaho respondents said funding for early literacy programs is very important or somewhat important.

• 85% of respondents said it is very important or somewhat important to increase pay in order to retain good teachers.

The voters of Idaho will have a clear choice for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction in November.

Gilbert Says Opponent’s Statement about Uvalde Shooting Is “Weak and Factually Wrong”

Terry Gilbert, Democratic Candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction, today called his opponent’s reaction to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, “weak and factually wrong.”

“At least she didn’t offer ‘thoughts and prayers,’ which have become the buzzwords for those who don’t intend to do anything,” Gilbert said, “but she offered nothing positive and outrageously claimed that ‘the answers to this carnage haven’t been thought of yet.’”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Gilbert said, noting that many solutions have been proposed, and at least one has proven itself to work.

Gilbert pointed to the ban on assault weapons ban that was in effect in the 90s and early 2000s. Gun killings of six or more people decreased by 37% in the decade that the ban was in place, and shot up 183% in the decade after Republicans refused to renew it.

“That ban worked, and I’m confident that other measures, like universal background checks, will do their part as well. Specifically, I’ve proposed an age limit of 21 to buy assault weapons, an idea that has drawn support around the country,” Gilbert said.

“It is simply unacceptable for someone who wants to be in charge of Idaho school children to essentially throw her hands in the air and say nobody has the solution,” Gilbert said, “to use an old cliché, ‘if she’s not part of the solution, she’s part of the problem.’”

GILBERT CALLS QUALITY EDUCATION ACT “THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE”

State Schools Superintendent candidate Terry Gilbert today asked Idahoans to invest in Idaho’s children by signing Reclaim Idaho’s petition to get the Quality Education Act on the November ballot.

“Just go to https://www.reclaimidaho.org/ to find out how to sign,” Gilbert said. “If you are able, help them gather signatures or send them a small donation as well. It’s the best investment you can make in our kids.” he said.

The Quality Education Act would pump more than $300 million into our classrooms by returning the corporate tax rate to 8%, where it was for years, and adding a 4.5% levy on earnings above $500,000 for a couple or $250,000 for an individual. “There’s nothing wrong with asking those who can afford it to invest a bit more in our schools,” he said. “We’re talking about people at the top 1% of the income ladder.”

Gilbert said that for more than 20 years, the Idaho Legislature has underfunded public schools, to the point that Idaho now ranks dead-last among the 50 states in per pupil expenditure. Put another way, education now gets 25% less of Idaho’s personal income revenues than it did in 2000.

“Every district in the state has suffered,” Gilbert said, “but rural and property-poor districts have suffered disproportionately because they can’t pass supplemental levies like richer districts can. The Quality Education Act would make many of those levies unnecessary, ultimately lowering property taxes.”

“Our public schools are the heart and soul of our communities, the driver of our economy, and our last and best bulwark against tyranny,” he said. “They are the glue that holds us together as citizens in a democracy.”

The new money could be spent only on the most basic things: teachers’ salaries, smaller classrooms, vocational and fine arts classes. “We’re not putting money into layers of bureaucracy,” Gilbert said.

Reclaim Idaho has until the 29th of April to get 65,000 valid signatures, including 2,000 from each of 18 legislative districts. So far, more than 83,000 Idahoans have signed on, but 90,000 are needed to be sure of having 65,000 valid signatures. Three more legislative districts also need more signatures.

“This is truly the best investment you can make,” Gilbert concluded.

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Terry Gilbert Announces Candidacy for Superintendent of Public Instruction

Boise, ID — Terry Gilbert, a life-long educator and former Idaho Education Association president, today announced his Democratic candidacy for Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction. He has over forty years of combined experience as a public school teacher and representative of teachers and educational support personnel.

“Idaho’s strong and successful communities start with our children’s schools. I am running to give a voice to the Idaho parents, students, teachers and support personnel who are weary of those in power failing year after year to live up to their constitutional duty to fund public education,” he said.

“Further, too many of our current leaders are asking the wrong questions about education. Their answers result in a standardized test-driven model that suppresses student creativity, initiative, and learning. Our children deserve an outstanding education system that will prepare them to be thoughtful, ethically-driven citizens and to have rewarding and well-paying careers. Idahoans must do better, and I will be offering my insights and love for the teaching profession to help us achieve this goal.”

Mr. Gilbert began his teaching career at Marsing Junior and Senior High in 1967. In the ensuing decade, he taught secondary English in rural Washington State and the Nampa School District. In 1977, Mr. Gilbert was elected president of the Idaho Education Association (IEA), a member-driven organization that provides advice, counsel, and a vital voice for educators and support personnel along with advocacy for high-quality public schools and public education. He subsequently served as an IEA regional director in Twin Falls and the Meridian area and as the IEA director of organizational development.

Mr. Gilbert holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Development, both from Northwest Nazarene College. He is a longtime member of his local Rotary Club. Mr. Gilbert lives in Boise with his wife, Carolyn Houts Gilbert. They have two adult children.