By Hailey Higgins, Local News 8 Reporter

IDAHO FALLS - State superintendent Tom Luna visited Idaho Falls Tuesday, along with 225 educators across Idaho.

They met for a two-day conference at Rocky Mountain Middle School.

In a lunch time meeting, Luna said the sacrifice of teachers and administrators during the education cutbacks has not gone unnoticed.

He praised them for not doing anything to negatively affect student achievement, despite this being the first year districts received less money than the year before.  

Less than two dozen districts declared a financial emergency and many more were forced to take days off without pay.

"We've seen school districts where the teachers and administrators have met and they have been very reasonable and come to agreements on how they are going to budget with less money, and so I am very pleased," said Luna.

During the conference, teachers say they continued their education with seminars about the best teacher practices and how to take care of themselves during the recession.