By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

BOISE, Idaho – Your bonus money or your union.

That’s the choice many Idaho educators will face when they head to the polls in November.

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Teacher union leaders are rallying educators in support of a ballot initiative that would repeal Idaho’s new education reforms and reinstate full collective bargaining privileges for school employee unions.

If the unions succeed in repealing the reforms, educators may miss out on their portion of the state’s new $40 million merit pay plan which is set to be paid out shortly after the November election, reports the Associated Press.

According to the AP, Idaho’s Department of Education has just announced which educators qualify for a performance bonus, instituted by last year’s education overhaul legislation. School districts “have 30 days to review and appeal the state data being used to calculate the pay-for-performance bonuses,” the news organization reports.

But if the new education reforms are overturned at the ballot box on Nov. 6, state officials say they may not have the legal authority to disperse the merit funds, and the money could be redirected by the state legislature.

Ironically, the president of the Idaho Education Association – which opposes merit pay plans on the grounds they are unfair to mediocre and ineffective teachers – fired off a letter to State Superintendent Tom Luna demanding that the funds be dispersed as quickly as possible, lest they become politicized by the election.

Luna has promised to do everything in his power to make sure deserving teachers receive their reward for raising student achievement, among other accomplishments.

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“No one wants to pay these bonuses more than I do,” Luna told the AP. “I will find any way legally possible to distribute this money to Idaho’s teachers, not just this year but every year.”

Even if the reforms are repealed, Luna may succeed, given the amount of flexibility written into the current law, reports the AP. Voters will cast their ballots on Nov. 6, but the state Board of Canvassers won’t certify the results until Nov. 21, which is nearly a week after the state’s Nov. 15 deadline for releasing the nearly $40 million in merit funds.

But there’s a catch: School districts aren’t legally required to disburse that money to individual teachers until Dec. 15. Under a repeal scenario, it’s unclear who would have legal claim to the money if teachers aren’t paid by late November.

If it all sounds like a big mess, that’s because it is – courtesy, once again, of the teacher unions.

Idaho voters can avoid all of this by keeping the reforms in place, of course.

It will be interesting to see how many teachers break with their unions, once they understand what’s at stake.