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Analysis: A bad week and a rough session for the facts
Elected officials are in the business of commanding and demanding facts. And a bad session for facts has a real effect on policy.
Legislative roundup, 4.29.21: Little signs nondiscrimination bill, but questions ‘anecdotes and innuendo’ that birthed it
In signing, Little questioned the Legislature’s interrogation of “widespread, systemic indoctrination in Idaho classrooms” that fueled the bill.
Charter commission investigating Ammon school
A recent complaint filed against the school includes a claim that Monticello Montessori Public Charter School’s “board of directors may be receiving monetary benefits through contracts held by the school.”
New teacher salary, higher education budgets emerge
Budget-writers voted to put another $1 million into the K-12 salaries bill. Then, on a divided vote, they sliced $2.5 million from higher education.
Analysis: By staying silent, the State Board loses the education narrative
On Thursday, new State Board President Kurt Liebich called the 2021 session a missed opportunity — with little attention paid to learning loss in the wake of the pandemic.
Her passion for politics is rooted in the Boy Scouts oath
Halli Stone has long voiced her opposition to things like abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. Today her fight is against bonds and levies for her children’s schools. She’s winning.
Analysis: Little and Ybarra duck and dodge raging social justice debate
Other education leaders recognize the moment. This debate is about what happens in the classroom — and the claims, advanced by the Idaho Freedom Foundation and its legislative allies, that Idaho schools are becoming havens of liberal indoctrination.
State Board, college presidents agree on another tuition freeze
“It’s going to hurt,” said Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee, acknowledging the possibility that the freeze will force staff and program cuts. “But it’s the right thing to do.”
Legislative roundup, 4.14.21: Senate goes on recess, saying, ‘We can’t move forward’
In a less-than-subtle rebuke of the House, the Senate wrapped up its floor session late Wednesday morning, and said it won’t reconvene until next week.
Legislative roundup, 4.13.21: House votes down teacher salary bill
The largest of the state’s K-12 budget bills, the teacher pay bill, now goes back to the drawing board. Opponents want language restricting schools from addressing social justice topics in the classroom.