37 Idaho counties reject all three education propositions
Idaho voters rejected all three of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's laws to overhaul education, a blow not only to the state's public schools leader but also to Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter.
With 99 percent of precincts counted, 66 percent of voters panned Luna's plan to spend $180 million to lease laptops for high school students and create online-class mandates.
The other two laws -- limits on teachers' collective bargaining rights and a new system of merit pay for teachers -- also flamed out, on margins of more than 12 percentage points.
According to Dan Popkey with the Idaho Statesman, all 44 counties rejected two of the three propositions.
"Voters in 37 of 44 counties rejected all three measures. The seven outliers — Adams, Boise, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison and Owyhee — are largely rural," said Popkey. "Not one of Idaho’s most populous counties voted for even one of the laws."
On a night where voters preserved Republicans' hold on the Idaho Legislature and delivered nearly a supermajority to Mitt Romney, they couldn't stomach education changes that many teachers argued had been foisted on them from above.
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