Top News

Idaho’s 2017 graduation rate unchanged from 2016

Once again, 79.7 percent of eligible students graduated.

House Education Committee again removes references to climate change

The Senate Education Committee is expected to take up the science standards next.

GOP candidates raise $1.6 million in bid to succeed Otter

The three major candidates — Tommy Ahlquist, Raul Labrador and Brad Little — are fundraising aggressively in the runup to the May 15 Republican primary. It’s early, but fundraising in the Democratic primary is off to a slow start.

Weird science: Standards hearing marked by confusion, questions

Lawmakers took no action Thursday, and they expect to reconvene the hearing Friday morning at the Statehouse.

Ybarra and Dillon scrape for campaign dollars

The two Republican candidates for state superintendent combined to raise only $8,600 in the second half of 2017. Meanwhile, Democrats are still searching for a candidate of their own.

Ybarra asks lawmakers to increase public school funding by 6.8 percent

“As we take stock of the five-year plan to improve K-12 education, we are on the right track,” Ybarra told lawmakers.

As Idaho’s ELL population grows, the budget is likely to follow

Since 2015-16, the number of English language learners in Idaho has increased from 13,000 to 16,000. Gov. Butch Otter and state superintendent Sherri Ybarra want to put more money into ELL.

Idaho’s average teacher salary increases by 3.6 percent

The pay raises are the largest in the era of the “career ladder,” Idaho’s five-year, $250 million plan to boost teacher pay. The average teacher salary now exceeds $48,000.