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Idaho Voucher Lawsuit

Idaho Education Association and Petitioners Challenge House Bill 93
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$50,000,000 in Public Dollars Diverted to Private Schools

On February 27, 2025, Governor Brad Little signed HB93, the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit, which creates the state’s first voucher program to funnel $50 million in public funds to private K–12 education — money that could otherwise support Idaho’s chronically underfunded public schools.

Key Idaho Education Funding Facts:

  • Idaho ranks 51st in the nation for per-pupil funding.
  • School districts are facing an $82.2M special education budget shortfall.
  • More than $8B is needed to repair school facilities across the state.

Article IX, Section 1, of the Constitution of the State of Idaho states:

“The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.”

Legislators cannot fund a private-school program while starving public schools for decades and fulfill their sworn constitutional duty.

September 17, 2025

The Idaho Education Association joined nine petitioners in filing a lawsuit against the Idaho State Tax Commission.

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For Idaho

Press Conference

Watch the press conference announcing the legal challenge of Idaho’s voucher subsidy program at the Idaho State Capitol.

Challenging Idaho's Parental Choice Tax Credit Program

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House Bill 93 established a tax credit voucher that allows Idaho families to claim a refundable tax credit of up to $5,000 per eligible student ($7,500 if that student has a disability) to pay for education expenses outside of the state’s public school system. The legislation was signed into law despite vocal outcry from thousands in opposition to it, including more than 32,000 people who called the governor’s office to urge him to veto it.
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The legal challenge was filed with the Idaho Supreme Court and asks for a Writ of Prohibition against the State of Idaho’s execution of the new law. The suit names the Idaho Tax Commission, which was tasked by lawmakers with implementing the legislation. Hawley Troxell, a prominent Boise-based law firm, represents the coalition in the suit.
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The lawsuit includes nine petitioners: the Committee to Protect and Preserve the Idaho Constitution, Moscow School District, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, the members of the Idaho Education Association, Kristine Anderson (mother of students with special needs in the Madison School District), Jerry Evans (former State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1979 to 1995), Marta Hernandez (a member of the Idaho Education Association and educator at Burley Junior High in Burley), Idaho Representative Stephanie Jo Mickelsen (R-Idaho Falls), and Alexis Morgan (an Idaho parent).
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The lawsuit challenges HB93 by pointing to language in the Idaho Constitution mandating the Legislature to “establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public free common schools.”
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By diverting taxpayer funds to private schools, it is funding a parallel system of private schools outside of the single public school system prescribed by the constitution. A system of taxpayer-funded private schools cannot be “general, uniform and thorough” by its nature. Nor can it be “public” when private schools are not open to all, nor are they accountable to taxpayers in open and transparent ways.

The lawsuit is in motion. What can you do to help in the meantime?

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Political Action Committee For Education

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May Matters

If we want a better future for our students and our profession, it starts now and it starts with us.

Learn More About Vouchers and Public Education in Idaho

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Idaho Passed $2 Billion in Funding for School Building Repairs. It’s Not Nearly Enough. - ProPublica

“A new cost estimate and early reports from districts receiving state funds show that small districts are still struggling to meet their most dire needs, forcing them to turn to voters to approve additional funds.”
Read the Report
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Private School Vouchers Are Especially Harmful to Rural Communities - Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy

“The Center found that nearly half of all counties in Idaho (20) do not contain a single private school, and only 22 percent of Idaho’s 121 private schools are in rural towns.”
Read the Report
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The Fiscal Consequences of Private School Vouchers - Education Law Center

“..nearly all the states examined were diverting hundreds of millions of dollars to voucher programs annually by the end of the period studied.”
Read the Report

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