Members of the Idaho Senate approved an appropriations bill that includes $1,000 “pandemic bonuses” for all educators in a 28-5 vote on Wednesday.
The IEA lobby team proactively and successfully worked with legislative budget writers to expand Gov. Brad Little’s original proposal to offer bonuses only to certified educators. Senate Bill 1404 includes $1,000 bonuses for all educators, both certified and non-certified. It is now awaiting House discussion and votes early next week.
“I think this is an excellent appropriations bill, and we worked hard to make sure that our administrators, our classified and our certified staff would receive bonuses,” said Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, a former teacher. “It’s been a grueling year for them.”