The governor’s call for state budget holdbacks today is very unfortunate and completely predictable. The Idaho Legislature’s massive tax cuts easily foretold this outcome, even as lawmakers dismissed the needs of basic governing and Idaho’s most vulnerable residents.
However, Gov. Little’s exclusion of public schools in these budgetary clawbacks highlights the crucial role he must play as a defender of Idaho public schools. Because of the State of Idaho’s chronic underfunding of public education, IEA members and the rest of our state’s dedicated educators have long been forced to do more with less. Further reducing the already spartan funding provided for public schools would have hurt Idaho students and families significantly.
While the need for these holdbacks could have easily been avoided, IEA members believe Gov. Little is right to spare Idaho’s public school students and classrooms from even more fiscal austerity while lawmakers write checks to the wealthy.
