Idaho Voters Overwhelmingly Support Their Public Schools

Voters in 19 communities across Idaho Tuesday approved millions of dollars in levies to support their local school districts. The funds generated by these levies will close gaps in school budgets caused by dramatic cuts in state and federal funding and will pay for everything from school supplies to educator salaries.
“We were thrilled to see voters overwhelmingly demonstrate their support for their local public school system,” said Idaho Education Association president Penni Cyr.  “The passage of these education levies showed how much voters value local control and quality public education.”
Though many Idaho communities are still struggling with lingering unemployment and other effects of the national recession, voter approval for school levies was decisive. In the Treasure Valley, levies in Nampa, Homedale, Notus and Wilder passed easily. A $3.19 million levy that will help preserve teacher jobs passed in Kuna. 67 percent of voters in Potlatch gave their levy a landslide victory. Three districts in Kootenai County approved levies, including a 13-year, $32.7 million bond in Coeur d’Alene. Voters overwhelmingly approved a $1.8 million supplemental levy for the American Falls school district and Buhl voters also approved a supplemental levy. The only failure was in Caribou County, where a $5 million bond in the North Gem School District failed by only two votes to get the two-thirds majority required for passage.
“Tuesday’s vote was a resounding thumbs up for public schools and for local control,” said Cyr. “In every part of Idaho, voters clearly reject the top-down approaches promoted by Idaho Superintendent of Public Education Tom Luna and his friends in the Idaho Legislature. Voters see that the teachers and administrators in their district know what works best for their kids—not bureaucrats in the capitol building. They’re willing to put their tax dollars behind that assertion.”
The Idaho Education Association expects voters will continue to support their public schools in November’s election when they go to the polls to reject Propositions 1, 2 and 3, otherwise known as the Luna Laws. “We expect voters will send the same message then as they did Tuesday: voters will support local schools and local control by rejecting the laws and voting no on Props 1, 2 and 3. Idaho kids deserve nothing less.”