Tom Luna

Thomas Luna (born 1958)[1] is an American politician and educator who served as Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2006 to 2014. Luna is the current chair of Idaho Republican Party.

Tom Luna
Chair of the Idaho Republican Party
Incumbent
Assumed office June 27, 2020
Preceded by	Raúl Labrador
Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction
In office December 1, 2006 – December 1, 2014
Governor	Jim Risch Butch Otter
Preceded by	Marilyn Howard
Succeeded by	Sherri Ybarra
Personal details
Born	1958 (age 62–63) Santa Ana, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	Thomas Edison State University (BA)

Early life and education

Luna was born in Santa Ana, California. He moved to Idaho to attend Ricks College (now Brigham Young University, Idaho) in 1981 and later attended Boise State University, but did not graduate from either.[2]

Luna was initially prevented from serving as Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction because he lacked a college degree. To satisfy the requirement, Luna earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from Thomas Edison State College, a majority-online university based in Trenton, New Jersey.[3][4][5][6]

Career

Business

Luna is the former owner of Scales Unlimited, an industrial truck scale service company which he started in 1982[1] and sold in 2010.[7] He was later appointed to be President of The International Society of Weights and Measurement (ISWM) and as a voting member of National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP).[8]

Education

Luna served on the Nampa School Board for seven years, three of those as chairman. As a member of the Nampa School Board, Luna supported school vouchers and tax credits for private schools as a means to increase competition in education.[9]

From 2003 to 2005 Luna worked for the United States Department of Education as an adviser to then-Secretary of Education, Rod Paige.[2][10] He served as Executive Director for the White House Initiative of Tribal Colleges and Universities and as the Director of the US Rural Education Task Force.[11]

Running for the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Idaho position in 2006, Luna focused on promoting charter schools.[9] Columnist William McGurn stated that he found Luna's business experience and lack of education degree, "refreshing".[12]

In 2006, Luna was elected as Idaho State Superintendent of Public Instruction.[2] He was re-elected to a second term in 2010.[13] He was also appointed Commissioner of Idaho Achievement Standards Committee and Chairman of the Idaho Assessment and Accountability Committee.

The centerpiece of education reforms spearheaded by Luna following his 2006 election as Superintendent is a package of legislation known as Students Come First.[14] Among the reforms in the Students Come First package, passed by the Idaho Legislature in 2011, are new limits to the collective bargaining rights of Idaho teachers, an increased annual minimum pay for new teachers by $345, a performance-based merit pay system for teachers, an increased classroom size in grades 4 through 12, a performance-based merit pay system for teachers, the phasing out of tenure and implementation of rolling contracts for teachers and administrators, mandatory online course credit as a high school graduation requirement, and providing laptop computers for all high school teachers and students. [14][15][16]

While serving as Idaho State Superintendent, Luna was Named President-Elect of Chief State School Officers (2010) and was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) to help set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).[17][18]

Later career

Luna expressed interest in running for Idaho's 1st congressional district in 2017.[19] On June 7, 2017, he announced that he would not seek the office or any other for Idaho elections, 2018.[20] Part of his statement read, "At this time, I want to continue to focus on my passion for education versus serving in Congress."[21][22][23] Luna also publicly supported Tommy Ahlquist and donated $2,500 to his campaign.[24]

Luna is the Senior Vice President and Chief Government Relations Officer of Project Lead The Way.[25][26]

Idaho Republican Party

Luna served the Idaho Republican Party as the Financial Chair of the Executive Committee.[27]

Luna ran for chairman of the Idaho Republican Party in the summer of 2019 to fill the vacancy left by the February 2019 resignation of Jonathan Parker. Luna lost to Raul Labrador 109 votes to Labrador's 111.[28]

In 2020, Luna was again a candidate for chair of the Idaho Republican Party after Raul Labrador announced that he would not see re-election and instead return to his law career. Luna defeated Mark Fuller, the chair of the Bonneville County Republican Central Republican Central Committee in a 274–262 vote in June 2020.[29][30]

Personal life

Luna and his wife Cindy have six children and thirteen grandchildren.[2] Luna is a Latter-day Saint.[31]

References

1. Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2006 debate page, Idaho Public Television
2. Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, Idaho State Department of Education
3. "Take 2: Former Nampa School District Trustee Earns Degree, Right to Seek Office". 0F661F86776B199D. Boise, Idaho. The Idaho Statesman. March 30, 2002. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
4. "Wiki Bio Wrong About Luna Degree | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
5. "US Shouldn't Buy What Luna's Selling | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
6. "State Journal - Education Week". Education Week. 2002-02-06. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
7. "Company Overview". Quality Scales Unlimited. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
8. "Two visions for Idaho public education". Retrieved 2017-04-27.
9. "Tom Luna's education reform plan was a long time in the making", Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman, February 20, 2011
10. "Idaho education firestorm sparks attempt at repeal" Archived 2013-01-27 at Archive.today, Jessie L. Bonner, Associated Press, (reprinted by KBOI-TV), June 8, 2011
11. Richard, Alan (2005-02-02). "Federal Efforts Lacking, Rural Advocates Say - Education Week". Education Week. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
12. "McGurn: Son of Scott Walker", William McGurn, Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2012
13. "Idaho - Election Results 2010 - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
14. Students Come First informational website & Students Come First Idaho State Department of Education website
15. "Luna's Students Come First laws head for ballot showdown", Kristin Rodine, Idaho Statesman, August 26, 2012
16. "Idaho Votes to Phase Out Teacher Tenure, Restrict Collective Bargaining", Fox News, March 09, 2011
17. Education_idaho (2010-12-27). "Idaho Education News: Superintendent Luna Named President-Elect of Chief State School Officers". Idaho Education News. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
18. "Tom Luna Appointed as NAGB Member / NAGB". www.nagb.org. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
19. Staff, KBOI News. "Former Superintendent of Public Instruction announces interest in congressional seat". KBOI. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
20. Kruesi, Kimberlee (2017-06-07). "FYI: Just got confirmation that Luna has no plans to run for any other political office in 2018 #idpol #idleghttps://twitter.com/kkruesi/status/872565198426488832 …". @kkruesi. Retrieved 2017-06-08. External link in |title= (help)
21. "Luna won't run for Congress after all". Spokesman.com. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
22. [email protected], IDAHO PRESS-TRIBUNE STAFF. "Tom Luna announces he won't run for Congress". Idaho Press-Tribune. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
23. Kruesi, Kimberlee (2017-06-07). "This just in: Tom Luna says he's NOT running for CD1 #idpol". @kkruesi. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
24. IdahoEdNews. 2018-05-18 https://www.idahoednews.org/news/beyond-ads-and-endorsements-where-the-candidates-stand-on-education/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
25. "PLTW | PLTW". PLTW. 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
26. "Tom Luna to take job with nonprofit". Idaho Education News. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
27. "Executive Committee". www.idgop.org. Archived from the original on 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
28. Dawson, James. "Raul Labrador Is Idaho's Next Republican Party Chairman". www.boisestatepublicradio.org. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
29. [email protected], By BLAKE JONES. "Former superintendent Tom Luna wins GOP chairman spot, top Republicans preach unity on convention's last day". Post Register. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
30. "Here is the latest Idaho news from The Associated Press at 5:40 p.m. MDT". www.ksl.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
31. "Transgender Woman Wins Idaho Primary". CNN iReport. Retrieved 2018-05-16.