I arrived in Idaho in 2010, fresh out of one of Oregon’s top grad schools. I was so excited to have a job, I left everything to work in a rural Idaho high school. I worked at a relatively small school that taught students from miles around, and our staff was already on a skeleton crew. Despite this, we managed to provide programs like auto tech and agriculture, for the majority of our students enter these fields. The so-called Students Come First laws would have devastated our community. This year, when one of the laws went into effect, our only middle school was forced to close its doors, and the students will be taught in portable classrooms on a field at the high school. If it continues there will be no ag or art programs to speak of and class sizes will shoot into the 50′s. As for me, the prospect of being replaced with a laptop was more risk than I could bear. I packed up in 2011 and took my master- teacher-self to Utah where I am being paid fairly and have job security. I pray every day for my old students.  At this rate, will there even be a school for them to go to in 5 years? Who will stand up for rural Idaho when all the teachers are laid off or move out of state? I can’t vote “no” but I hope Idaho does.

- Christina, former Idaho teacher, Logan, UT