Blake Jones

Reporter Blake Jones covers the politics and policy of Idaho's K-12 public school system. He's a lifelong Idahoan, and holds degrees in Creative Writing and Political Economy from the College of Idaho. Follow Blake on Twitter @jonesblakej. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

Idaho joins lawsuit against White House over trans student protections

The move marks an effort to shield the state’s transgender athlete ban from a legal challenge.

Voters green light a pair of rural school bonds

Voters lent the Homedale and West Jefferson school districts the two-thirds support they needed for approval.

Idaho schools again report nearly all teachers are ‘proficient’ or better

Administrators conduct mandatory teacher evaluations each year, and lawmakers have tied additional teacher pay to designations of “basic,” “proficient” and “distinguished.”

Indoctrination task force calls on Legislature to make slew of changes

Thursday afternoon marked the first time the committee made recommendations or accepted live public testimony.

Women administrators “have to work longer, harder and smarter” to get equal pay

Women school district superintendents in Idaho attain higher levels of education and work more days than their male counterparts, according to a recent study.

Idaho loses ground on the ISAT amid pandemic

The number of students considered “proficient” or “advanced” by the standardized test shrunk 5.5% in math and 1.5% in language arts from 2019 levels.

Four new charter schools are set to open this fall

The new schools will provide some 1,400 new seats for students in the coming years, charter support group Bluum says.

Inclusion complaints flare as school board meeting is cut short, police respond

A Kuna School Board meeting abruptly ended Tuesday night after testifiers demanded the word “inclusive” be struck from a proposed strategic plan, and unknown individual interrupted the district’s live stream.

Reading scores: Idaho charters see high highs and low lows

Numbers from the Idaho Reading Indicator show that this spring, charter schools were overrepresented among the top — and bottom — performers on the test.

Indoctrination task force shifts to higher ed

Concerns about leftist teachings dominated, no live public testimony was accepted and there was no representation from key players at state education agencies — the result of some figures either declining or being unable to participate.