With the political season upon us, extreme-right dark money interests are gearing up to elect legislative candidates who will sing their tune in the Idaho Legislature. They were somewhat successful in the closed GOP primary election, defeating several reasonable Republicans who supported public education. They are now gunning for Democratic candidates who oppose spending public money to subsidize the education of private and religious school students.

The American Federation for Children (AFC), a billionaire-funded political action committee with a school privatization agenda, has begun smearing Democrats. AFC falsely claims Democratic candidates have “sided with radical special interests and OPPOSED parental rights” because the Democrats oppose forcing taxpayers to pay for private and religious schooling. One grotesque ad portrays Senator Rick Just of Boise as a puppet being manipulated by some unseen puppet master. It is an ugly exercise in gaslighting. The AFC’s only reason for existence is to buy legislators who will do its bidding. Another ad claims Just opposed property tax relief, which is patently false.

I’ve known Senator Just for decades. He is nobody’s puppet. Rather, he is a remarkable public servant. Rick served as a Marine, was educated at Boise State and went on to work for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation for 30 years. In 2023, he carried the bill in the Senate to appropriate $100 million to fund long overdue maintenance and infrastructure for the state parks that people of every political persuasion enjoy. He has stood tall in the Legislature for Idaho’s veterans. In addition to his legislative service, he is a dedicated student of Idaho history, writing about it in his Speaking of Idaho blog.

There can be no doubt that the AFC will continue to conduct a ruthless and truthless campaign against Rick and his Democratic colleagues who believe that private and religious school patrons should not be allowed to feed at the public taxpayers’ trough. AFC and several other school privatization zealots funded by out-of-state dark money were up to their ears in the closed GOP primary, using scorched earth campaign tactics to defeat reasonable Republicans who strongly supported Idaho’s public schools.

AFC invested $400,000 in the effort to elect extremist legislators favorable to its causes. The Idaho Citizens Alliance spent a similar amount for the same purpose, all but $10,000 of which came from out of state. Make Liberty Win, a Virginia group tied to Texas-based Young Americans for Liberty, spent more than $703,000 supporting extremist candidates in the May primary. This combined effort succeeded in defeating several Republican legislators who were dedicated public school supporters.

Now, the outsiders have turned their malevolent designs upon the Democrats who stand between private schools and the public treasury. It is time for reasonable Idahoans who value public education over unaccountable private and religious schools to put aside partisanship and support candidates who will support and adequately fund public education. Idaho’s future depends on ordinary people becoming informed on the issues so that they can see through the smokescreen spewed out by these out-of-state groups that have no interest in the future of Idaho’s kids.

Voters who want to save our public schools from the billionaire onslaught must do a modest bit of homework. Here are some tips to casting an informed vote:

1. Don’t be swayed by attack ads. Rely on factual material.
2. Check out factual voter guides. Take Back Idaho will have a factual voter guide and Idaho Education News will likely have a reliable guide also.
3. Ask door knockers of college age whether they are being paid by Young Americans for Liberty or similar groups to hand out campaign materials. If so, place the billionaire hit piece in the recycle bin.
4. Vote only for candidates who will support the public school system, regardless of party affiliation. Remember that every taxpayer dollar going to private and religious schools comes out of the public school budget.
5. Vote for the Open Primaries Initiative, which will restore civility, competence and pragmatism to governing in the Gem State.
6. Don’t let the out-of-state sleaze merchants control Idaho’s political future.