The Idaho Education Association was among those sharing public testimony today with the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC). IEA Executive Director Robin Nettinga reiterated the Association’s funding priorities with the committee. The Idaho School Boards Association and the Idaho School Administrators Association also took the podium, and the three education stakeholders groups were largely in concert in supporting the budget proposals of both Governor Otter and State Superintendent Ybarra.
Nettinga highlighted the following three funding priorities, while also noting that the short list is not all-encompassing.
- Fully funding the second year of the Career Ladder salary allocation formula, which dictates how much money the state provides to school districts for teacher compensation.
- Restoring operational/discretionary funding to at least 2009 levels (not accounting for inflation).
- Providing districts with the resources they need to develop training programs that provide teachers with meaningful professional development and mentoring
“We believe this is the kind of effort it will take if we hope to continue recruiting students to the teaching field, and then keeping our best and brightest teaching graduates in Idaho,” Nettinga told JFAC. You can read more about today’s public testimony from Betsy Russell of the Spokesman Review.
House Ed Moves on Opportunity Scholarship Legislation
Following significant discussion, the House Education Committee sent HB 477 to General Orders on Thursday. This technical move assures the bill can be amended rather than requiring that a new bill be printed, forcing the process to start all over again. The Education Committee did offer recommended amendments to the bill that ensure that those scholarships can be used at any Idaho college or university that has been fully accredited by a state-approved accredited college or university; however, it is important to note that once a bill is moved to the amending order, any member of the body can offer amendments.
HB 477 will shift $1 million of the $6 million Opportunity Scholarship budget to be used for higher education scholarships for eligible students who choose to attend any accredited public or private Idaho higher education institutions. Read more about today’s House Ed developments in Idaho Education News.
IEA’s Education Bill Summary
Each year lawmakers print and debate literally hundreds of bills. We’ve identified a number of the education-related bills the IEA is following this session. You can read the entire text of any of these bills on the Idaho Legislature website.
| Bill Number | Sponsor | Description | Where Is It? |
| HB 379 | DeMordaunt | Computer Science: Requires the SDE to develop K-12 computer science standards, provides for professional development opportunities, and provides for distribution of grants to local schools. | Passed House (66-2-2); Senate Ed |
| HB 380 | Moyle | Income Tax: Grocery Tax Credit: Reduces income tax for the highest income earners and increases the state grocery tax credit by $10/person | Passed House (53-16-1); Senate Local Gov and Taxation |
| HB 420 | Nate | SBAC Opt Out: Directs Superintendent of Public Instruction to begin the process to remove Idaho from SBAC Consortium; in the meantime, allows students to opt out of the statewide test | House Ed |
| HB 442 | Kerby | Extra Day Contracts: Allows districts to use supplemental contracts for all teachers who work extra days beyond the end of the standard teaching contract year. | House Ed |
| HB 450 | SBE | Literacy: Updates Idaho’s literacy law, expands reading interventions for K-3 students performing at basic or below basic levels on reading indicator | House Ed |
| HB 451 | VanOrden | Parental Notification re: Literacy: Requires parental notification and involvement in development of an appropriate reading intervention for students performing at basic or below basic. | House |
| HB 452 | SBE | Sick Leave Transfer: Removes 90 day limit on transfer of sick leave an individual may take from one state agency to another or from one school district to another | Passed House (69-0-1); Senate Ed |
| HB 458 | Thayn | Advanced Opportunities: Consolidates and streamlines Idaho law pertaining to Advanced Opportunities and provides for a scholarship to eligible students | House |
| HB 460 | SDE | Transportation Contracts: Allows local school districts to enter into transportation contracts with local providers | House Ed |
| HB 476 | Nye | Class Size Data: Allows for the use of average class sizes between districts of similar size for funding purposes | House |
| HB 477 | Kerby | Student Scholarships: Provides college scholarships for students who earn high school dual credits | House General Orders |
| HB 493 | Perry | Public School Income Fund: Redirects 11.25% from fines and forfeitures remitted for motor vehicle violations from public school income fund to drug court and mental health court and family court services | House Jud and Rules |
| HB 512 | Chaney | Community College Trustee Elections: Requires community college trustees to be representative of specific zones of the district | House State Affairs |
| HB 514 | Horman | School Safety: Creates an Office of School Safety and Security within the Division of Building Safety. | House Ed |
| HB 515 | Troy | Teacher Evaluation Dates: Moves the requirement for teacher evaluation completion from May 1 to June 1; requires that a formal written evaluation be completed prior to issuing a contract; and allows the local school board to use another objective measure, if ISAT data is not available within 30 days prior to June 1. | House Ed |
| HCR 31 | McCrostie | Music In Our Schools: Proclaims March 2016 as Music In Our Schools Month | Passed House (69-0-1); Senate |
| HJR 1 | Nate | Constitutional Amendment: Would amend Article IX, Section 5 of the Idaho Constitution to allow for the use of public funds for private and religious schools | House State Affairs |
| SB 1210 | SBE | Professional-Technical Education: Changes the name of Division of Professional-Technical Education to Career-Technical Education and brings Idaho into alignment with common nomenclature in reference to this education. | Passed Senate (32-1-2); Passed House (66-2-2); Gov’s Desk |
| SB 1248 | Nonini | Charter School Teacher Contracts: Allows charter schools to issue contracts of their choice other than the state-approved standard teacher contract. | Senate |
| SB 1249 | Governor’s Office | STEM Action Center: Would provide reimbursement, upon request, for travel and necessary expenses for members of the Idaho STEM Action Center board of directors to attend meetings of the board | Senate |
| SB 1266 | SDE | Leadership Premiums: Would increase the minimum leadership premium amount an individual teacher could earn from $850 to $900/annually | Senate Ed |
| SB 1273 | Winder | School Board Vacancies: Would prohibit a school board member subject to recall, when a majority of school board members are subject to a recall, from resigning and allowing the remaining board members from appointing a new member to that board until such a time as the recall election is certified. | Senate State Affairs |
| SB 1289 | SDE | Career Counseling: Provides a more equitable funding distribution of funding for career and student counseling for elementary, middle/junior high, and high schools | Senate Ed |
| SB 1290 | Patrick | College and Career Advising: Requires districts to establish plans to address college and career advising and submit annual reports to the SBE on methods used and goals achieved | Senate |
| SB 1293 | Souza/Den Hartog | Parental Rights: Affirms that parents or guardians hold primary responsibility for the education of the student and defines the reasonable accommodations schools will offer to parents re: their children’s education. | Senate Ed |
| SB 1299 | Souza/Lakey | Sunshine Reports: Requires all state and local candidates and ballot measures to report campaign finances. | Senate State Affairs |
| SB 1307 | Rice | School Board Election Dates: Moves school board elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years on the November General Election date | Senate Ed |
| SB 1308 | Souza/Rice | School Trustee Zones: Requires school board trustees to be elected by the full school district electorate, and no longer by individual zones; however, trustees would still be required to live in a specific zone | Senate Ed |
| SB 1330 | Den Hartog | Medical Self-Management: Ensures students with Type 1 Diabetes have the right to medical self-management of their disease on school property or at school-related activities. | Senate Ed |
| SB 1331 | Mortimer | Public Education Stabilization Fund: Provides a mechanism for the PESF to receive funds when the receipts of the General Fund exceed the receipts of the previous year by more than 4% | Senate Ed |
| SB 1332 | Mortimer | Industry Partner Fund: Creates an Industry Partner Fund to be used by professional-technical colleges for skills-gap and training. Funding would come from industry partners | Senate Ed |
| SB 1333 | Mortimer/Malek | Broadband Infrastructure Investment Grant Board (BIIGB): Creates the BIIGB and outlines the application process for local school districts to apply for grants to build broadband infrastructure. | Senate Ed |
| SB 1334 | Mortimer/Malek | Education Opportunity Resource Committee. Provides broadband and related services to students; establishes an Education Opportunity Resource Committee in the SDE and outlines the duties of the committee. | Senate Ed |
| SB 1335 | Nuxoll | Executive Session re: Real Property Purchases: Allows school board to utilize Executive Session to discuss the sale of real property | Senate Ed |
| SB 1336 | Patrick | Citizenship Test Alternative: Exempts special education students from the requirement that they pass the citizenship test in order to graduate unless their IEP requires successful completion of the test. | Senate Ed |
| SB 1337 | SBE | Charter School Replication: Amends Idaho Charter School law to ensure additional transparency regarding the management of these schools and streamlines the process for replicating high achieving charter schools. | Senate Ed |
| SB 1342 | Nuxoll | Bible in Schools: Codifies the practice of using the Bible for reference in public schools | Senate Ed |
| SCR 134 | Brad Little, Lt. Gov | 60% Postsecondary Degree/Certificate: Affirms the SBE goal of ensuring 60% of Idahoans aged 25-34 attain a postsecondary degree or certificate by 2020. | Passed Senate (33-0-2); House |
