Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and the education community unveiled recommendations on Wednesday that are intended to chart the path of education in the years ahead.

The recommendations are broad goals that officials stressed will need more discussion and refining in the months and years ahead. They focus on four central themes: transparent accountability, high student achievement standards, postsecondary credit opportunities in high school, and more students completing a certificate or degree program after high school.

Specifics of the themes include a compensation plan for teachers based, in part, on performance, lowering the dropout rate, and more advanced courses.

The recommendations come from the Education Alliance of Idaho, which represents various education organizations in the state. The group’s history began in 2007, when Otter asked the Idaho Business Coalition for Education Excellence to facilitate a long-term discussion among stakeholders about improving education.

“It’s one of the first steps in a process,” said Curtis Eaton, an IBCEE board member. “It’s a very important milestone, I think, but there are other steps to follow. One of those next steps would be to refine and be a little more definitive in some of the objectives.”

Eaton also stressed that the breadth of the organizations involved is crucial. Ten organizations were involved, besides the governor’s office, and the State Department of Education and State Board of Education.

“We need every stakeholder in the education system in Idaho at the same table,” Otter said at the press conference, adding that the work is not done.

“We’ve still got a long way to go, so that team still has to stay together,” Otter said.

Sherri Wood, president of the Idaho Education Association, said she appreciated the opportunity for her organization to be at the table.

The goals also come at a time when state revenues are down and lawmakers will have less money as they make budget plans.

“I’m very concerned about how it is we move these goals forward and they become anything more than words on a paper in this economic climate,” Wood said.

And some ideas that the alliance has outlined will face scrutiny before becoming policy. Paying teachers for performance, for example, would be opposed by the IEA if it were based on a single test score.

Melissa McGrath, spokeswoman for the State Department of Education, said that having goals is crucial for future planning.

“Even in times of economic difficulty it’s important to have a vision,” she said. “It’s important to have a strategy. … When the economy does turn around which we know it will, we’ll have the vision and the goals in place.”

The goal of more participation on college credit opportunities for high school students fits in well with the College of Southern Idaho’s work in providing dual credit courses to high schools, said Eaton, also executive director of the CSI Foundation.

Ben Botkin may be reached at bbotkin@magicvalley.com or 208-735-3238.