Marilyn Whitney of the Governor’s office revealed during the Senate Education Committee meeting on Monday that new figures show a 1.7% increase in K-12 enrollment across the state. As a result, Whitney indicated that year three of the Career Ladder salary allocation plan will grow from the original estimate of $58 million to about $62 million. We will share more details and insight as we get them, but fully funding the third year of the Career Ladder is one of the top priorities of the IEA and other education stakeholder groups for this legislative session. Idaho Ed News has a brief story on Whitney’s announcement and other testimony from Monday’s Senate Education Meeting, including that of IEA President Penni Cyr.
Education Insights from Boise State Public Policy Survey
Boise State University’s School of Public Service released its annual research survey on matters of importance to Idahoans, including several interesting insights on public education in the state. Among the findings:
- On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the strongest sentiment), 80.5% of respondents replied with answers of 8-10 when asked how important it is for the legislature to address education. This was by far the highest ranked issue—health care was second at 70.5%.
- 6% indicated that the quality of public schools in their area was “excellent” or “good”. 30.2% said “fair” and 14.5% said “poor”.
- 4% of respondents “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed with the statement—“Access to high-quality, affordable preschool for children enhances their educational performance in elementary school.
Read the entire BSU 2017 Idaho Public Policy Survey here.
Education Committees to Meet on Wednesday
As was the case on Tuesday, sub-committees of the House Education Committee will review several rules that may need slight revisions.
The Senate Education Committee will hear a presentation from Dwight Johnson, State Administrator for Career and Technical Education, as well as going over some additional rule modifications.
