Tom Luna

Education

Luna moved to Idaho to attend college at Ricks College, in 1981, and later attended Boise State University.

He announced his candidacy for state superintendent in September 2001.

In March 2002, Luna graduated from Thomas Edison State College.

Elections

2018

Luna has expressed interest in running for Idaho's 1st congressional district in 2018.

On June 7, 2017 he announce that he will not seek the office or any other for Idaho elections, 2018. Part of his statement read "At this time, I want to continue to focus on my passion for education versus serving in Congress."

2014

Luna chose not to run for a third term in January 2014.

2012 Presidential Election

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney named Luna to Romney's 19-member education policy advisory group.

Luna was the only state superintendent to be chosen for the group .

2010

Luna was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Luna defeated Stan Olsen, former superintendent of the Boise School District, with 60.5% of the vote.

2006

Luna defeated Steve Casey and Steve Smylie in the Republican primary getting 41.5% of the vote.

Luna defeated former deputy of Idaho State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jana L. Jones with 51.3% of the vote.

Business

Luna is the owner of Scales Unlimited, an industrial truck scale company which he started in 1982. 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).

Local

Luna served on the Nampa School Board for seven years, three of those as chairman.

State

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

National

From 2003 to 2005 Luna worked for the U.S. Department of Education as an adviser to then-U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. 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.

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).

Current Position

Currently Luna is the Senior Vice President and Chief Government Relations Officer of Project Lead The Way.

Idaho School Reforms

As a member of the Nampa School Board from 1994 to 2002, Luna supported school vouchers and tax credits for private schools as a means to increase competition in education.

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

Students Come First

The centerpiece of education reforms spearheaded by Luna following his 2006 election as Superintendent is a package of legislation known as Students Come First. Among the reforms in the Students Come First package, passed by the Idaho Legislature in 2011, are:

Luna's proposed reforms have been challenged though ballot initiatives. Among the opponents is the The Idaho Education Association, a state teachers union. Petitions challenging the Students Come First legislation collected enough signatures to place the matter on the state's November 6, 2012, general election ballot. There were three separate ballot propositions because the reforms were passed with three legislative bills. Voters rejected all three propositions on November 6, striking down the reforms.

Personal life

Luna and his wife Cindy have six children and thirteen grandchildren.