The big news: Lawmakers finally ended the session (officially called sine die, a Latin phrase that means “without day”) Thursday. But the restrictive bills and deep budget cuts they passed will affect Idaho for years to come.
• For Idaho Education Association members, the most consequential of the record number of bills introduced and passed by the Legislature is House Bill 516. Read more about this anti-IEA bill here and here.
Call Gov. Brad Little and ask him to VETO House Bill 516
Calls are more effective and convey more urgency than email — and IEA members don’t have any time to lose. Call 208-334-2100 now.
What is heading to the governor:
• IDLA and virtual charter schools: Three bills will affect the Idaho Digital Learning Academy and charter schools: House Bill 940 affects course fees, Senate Bill 1438 limits IDLA’s enrollment and cuts its budget, and Senate Bill 1444 adds further cuts. That leaves IDLA with only about half of its budget intact, and everything from elementary programs to driver’s ed to course fees will be affected. Public schools, especially those in rural districts with small budgets, often use IDLA services to offer coursework mandated but unfunded by the Idaho Legislature.
• K-12 maintenance budget: Senate Bill 1362 approved a $2.77 billion budget for schools that keeps appropriations fairly flat.
• Monitoring students’ gender: Under House Bill 822, schools will need to notify parents within 72 hours if a student asks to use a name, pronoun, or restroom that is not consistent with their birth sex. Schools that do not comply could be faced with up to $100,000 in civil penalties and parents could seek damages against individual school employees.
• Civics education: Senate Bill 1336 will codify civics education in Idaho public schools, including “instruction on certain key principles, concepts, and documents from and about the American Founding and the history of Communism.” The catch: charter schools can be granted an exemption by petitioning the Idaho State Board of Education, but traditional public schools cannot.
• Library bill, again: Senate Bill 1448 updates Idaho’s infamous library law, adding definitions for “adolescent minors” and “sexually explicit” materials.
What the governor signed:
• High-needs SPED fund: Gov. Little signed Senate Bill 1288, offering a $5 million lifeline to severely underfunded special education services. Read more about Senate Bill 1288 here.
• Cyberbullying: Under House Bill 785, students may be punished for inappropriate online behavior, even if that behavior occurred off campus and outside of school hours.
• Civics seal: Students will be able to earn an official seal for civics on their high school diplomas thanks to House Bill 712.
• CTE career ladder: Under House Bill 849, career-technical educators will be allowed to count professional experience toward their placement on the career ladder.
• Continuous improvement plans: Idaho will swap continuous improvement plans for strategic performance plans after Gov. Little signed Senate Bill 1339.
• Voucher rules cleanup: Students whose parents receive Idaho’s private school voucher will be able to take part in non-credit sports and extracurricular activities under House Bill 934. That ability was not explicit in the original voucher legislation.
