Kevin’s blog

Expert analysis and the latest news from award-winning journalist Kevin Richert.

Boise trustees to weigh in on $172.5 million bond issue

If trustees sign on, the far-reaching bond issue will be on the ballot on March 14.

Kevin Richert

Idaho college enrollment defied ‘go-on’ trend

Even as Idaho’s college “go-on” rate tumbled significantly, college enrollment numbers trended upward.

Election Night live blog

Analysis of the numbers and the election impacts — with an eye to education, of course.

State evaluators receive a glowing evaluation

The Legislature’s auditing arm picks up a national award for a pair of stinging investigations of costly state education projects.

‘Adult completer’ scholarship plan will resurface in 2017

Gov. Butch Otter and the State Board of Education want to put $5 million into this scholarship program. A sharply divided Senate rejected the idea earlier this year.

Otter opposes rules amendment

A constitutional amendment ensuring the Legislature’s role in reviewing agency rules is “a solution in search of a problem,” Gov. Butch Otter said Wednesday.

Report: Idaho’s K-12 cuts were second steepest in nation

A Washington, D.C.-based group focused on state budget cuts during the throes of the Great Recession — and its aftermath.

A dustup over Blaine County superintendent-trustee meetings

The one-on-one meetings do not necessarily violate state sunshine laws, Blaine County’s prosecutor tells the Idaho Mountain Express. The attorney general’s office cautions against the practice.

ACLU, Cassia district settle discrimination dispute

Former Declo High School student Sierra Norman filed a civil rights complaint in 2014, saying she was the subject of gender and religious discrimination.

IEA contributes $32K to Democratic campaigns

The Idaho Education Association’s political arm is a major donor to a Boise-based group supporting Democratic legislative candidates. Between May 28 and Sept. 30, the Political Action Committee for Education contributed $32,000 to Responsible Leadership for Idaho, according to Responsible Leadership’s most recent campaign finance report. Kimberlee Kruesi of the Associated Press first wrote Wednesday…