The Olympia School District, like others across the state, is facing a budget deficit that could result in layoffs. The district is estimating a shortfall of up to $11.5 million for the 2023-24 school year. Read More
Mayville was the driving force behind the Medicaid Expansion initiative that Idaho voters approved in 2018. Now, he’s back with what he calls the Quality Education Act.Read More
Idaho’s ever-growing budget surplus is trending toward a record-shattering and mind-boggling $800 million. The big reason: Individual income tax collections are ahead of forecasts by a whopping $452.2 million. We’ll know the exact surplus sometime after June 30, when the state closes the books on the 2020-21 budget year.Read More
The new budget bills still have to pass both houses — and House conservatives have killed three major education bills over social justice and critical race theory concerns. But on Monday, the Senate followed the House’s lead, passing a bill addressing “nondiscrimination” in schools and critical race theory. That nondiscrimination bill, now on its way to Gov. Brad Little’s Read More
Days after the demise of a higher education budget, University of Idaho President C. Scott Green is looking for backup from alumni and business leaders.Read More
The state’s K-12 teacher salaries budget fell Tuesday on a 34-34 tie vote after more than an hour of volatile debate — ranging from anecdotes about good teachers and “bad actors” to accusations that educators are being forced to include critical race theory in their coursework. Stories from teacher-lawmakers on both sides of the issue focused on the content’s presence — or Read More
The big battle will center on the four-year schools: Boise State University, the University of Idaho, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College. After JFAC agrees on a number, the higher ed budget will have to get through the House — where hardline conservatives are poised to continue a fight that began last legislative session. It took three tries to get a Read More
Budget cuts + rising pandemic costs + zero federal relief = a school funding crisis. Back in May, school funding experts predicted a looming financial disaster for the nation's K-12 schools.Read More
The $49.4 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money will only go so far on Idaho’s college campuses. It won’t cover all of the schools’ COVID-related losses — or the revenue the schools have lost to the pandemic.Read More
Gov. Brad Little announced a plan Friday to pump another $150 million of CARES Act money into supporting schools. If approved, that would push education-related CARES Act spending past the $300 million mark.Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court has put a halt to the Reclaim Idaho K-12 initiative drive. Thursday’s ruling represents a legal victory for Gov. Brad Little and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney, who requested a stay of a lower court ruling allowing Reclaim Idaho to gather online signatures for its “Invest in Idaho” initiative. Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little wants the U.S. Supreme Court to stop Reclaim Idaho from gathering signatures online, as the group tries to get its education funding initiative on November’s ballot.Read More
Reclaim Idaho suspended face-to-face signature gathering for the initiative on March 18, days after Idaho reported its first case of coronavirus. The group sued on June 8, saying that Gov. Brad Little and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney refused to provide the group an alternative path to pursuing a voter initiative during the pandemic.Read More
President Trump and others criticized "elite, wealthy institutions" for money allocated to them by a federal package. Read More
In Oregon, GOP senators, solidly in the minority, left the Capitol this week before lawmakers could approve House Bill 3427, which would inject schools with billions in new funding to lower class sizes and boost graduation rates. The move denied Democrats a 20-member quorum, halting business in the Senate.Read More
What should a 21st century public school system look like? Washington’s superintendent of public instruction says it’s time to have that conversation now that the state’s decade-long school funding legal fight is over.Read More
Teachers have staged protests in recent weeks in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Colorado and Arizona. Some are fighting lawmakers who want to scale back their pensions.Read More
The TEACH grant helps future teachers pay for college or a master's. Many say that when they started teaching, they were forced to pay it back. A study obtained by NPR suggests thousands are affected.Read More
Washington House Democrats have proposed nearly $1 billion in short-term property tax relief, followed by a longer-term tax cut funded by a new state capital gains tax on a minority of wealthier residents.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a third special session on Wednesday and said it was time to ”crack the whip” on lawmakers to get a budget deal and avoid a […]Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is sounding the alarm over the pace of budget negotiations at the state Capitol. During a media availability Monday, the Democrat said that it’s time for both sides to make “major moves” toward compromise.Read More
In what has become the new normal, Washington state lawmakers are expected to go into an overtime session because they’ve been unable to agree on a state operating budget or a plan to fully fund public schools.Read More
