[swishercutter]

I went to public school in Coeur d'Alene and I currently live in Post Falls. I can say that we need more tech in the classroom. There is not enough of a local push for moving things forward, people are mystified by computers and very few over the age of 35 here know anything more than using it for the web or checking emails, things are better than they were but it is even hard to find a mechanic that doesn't say they "hate these new computerized cars" (even though it is old tech by my standards).

The elementary schools here when I went to school in my opinion were moderate. I have more memories of teachers trying to correct my poor handwriting or chastising me for reading ahead of the rest of the class in my books than I do of anyone actually trying to figure out what I was interested in. By middle school my standardized test scores (Iowa tests) put me in the 95-99th percentile in the nation (I took the SAT's in the 7th grade because of it)...by my junior year in high school the vice principal said to me "...why don't you just drop out? You don't want to be here and we don't want you here" That principal was Steve Casey...winner of many awards for education in the area. That is just an example of the system up here.

I approve of the pay by performance idea for teachers and I think tech should be funded before athletics since that is what truly will push innovation and bring us out of the recession that we are in.