Idaho’s Public School Funding Chronically Falls Short

What’s wrong with asking local taxpayers to meet the needs of local schools?

Nothing, if those needs are expected or beyond the scope of typical fundamental expenses of offering a quality education. Meeting those above-and-beyond needs is the true purpose of bonds and levies. 

Instead, bonds and levies have become a regular occurrence. Recent ballot measures asked taxpayers to pay for: 

• New buildings in districts struggling to meet the needs of rapid growth
• Salaries and benefits for paraprofessionals who support Idaho students
• Buying and maintaining school buses

When voters reject these fundamental expenses, it creates a dynamic of haves and have-nots among school districts. District administrators are often forced to sacrifice needed classroom investments for the sake of serviceable buildings or other fundamental operating costs.

What is the ballot box supermajority requirement for facilities bond measures? Does it matter?

In Idaho, school facilities bond measures must pass with a two-thirds supermajority at the ballot box. A 2022 audit by the Idaho Legislature’s Office of Performance Evaluations found that “the current two-thirds vote threshold poses a significant barrier to bond approval.”

What would it take to fully fund public education in Idaho?

The Idaho Constitution outlines the minimum standards Idaho’s education funding must meet, and our Legislature is falling far short of its constitutional obligations. 

Idaho taxpayers have overwhelmingly demanded more public education funding, stronger schools, better-paid staff, and additional student services — but the Legislature is not listening. Our public education system will be “fully funded” when the educational outcomes public schools deliver meet the standards taxpayers demand.

How does underfunding hurt Idaho students?

When school districts are forced to ask voters to pay for basic expenses, often unsuccessfully, real investment in student success suffers. Our students increasingly need mental health services and our dedicated educators are not compensated adequately. It becomes close to impossible to meet such needs when the Legislature does not fully fund our schools.