The big news: The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS), a lifeline for schools and educators in rural, timber-reliant areas like North and Central Idaho, has been reauthorized after an uncomfortable lapse.
Some background: In the early 1900s, the federal government began giving 25 percent of timber sales on national forests to local communities because federal land cannot be a source of tax revenue.
• When timber sales on federal land began declining in the late 1900s because of federal policy changes, leaving counties with less of a taxpayer base, SRS helped fill the gap with regular federal payments.
• SRS funds help pay for public schools, emergency services and other essential government supports that rural counties otherwise couldn’t afford.
Missed payments: Funding from SRS had been stalled since 2023, when Congress failed to pass a routine renewal of the act. The act originally passed in 2000 and expired in 2006, but was consistently renewed until fiscal year 2023.
• Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden drove the legislation to renew the act.
• They were bolstered by educator stories collected by the Idaho Education Association. Former National Education Association Director Peggy Hoy (founder of NEA’s new Rural Educators Caucus) and IEA President Layne McInelly lobbied Sen. Crapo with real-world stories from educators.
• “Thank you to all the educators who took time to share their experiences with us,” Hoy said. “Those true stories of how SRS affects their schools, their students and their communities were invaluable in helping secure the future of this act. I’m thrilled for our rural educators and students to have more of a steady footing.”
Why Is SRS So Crucial to Idaho?
Discover how IEA's Peggy Hoy and others are working for rural schools by supporting the act.
