Idaho legislators address education bills, appropriations

BOISE — It was an education-filled day in the Idaho House and Senate, as multiple education-related bills and appropriations were approved.

The Legislature is trying to wrap up its work for the year this week, so bills are flying through both chambers.

Some of the measures that were approved Monday include:

House Bill 790 — This is a new version of an all-day kindergarten, literacy funding measure that was pulled from consideration on the House floor last week.

The latest version continues to allow schools to tap state literacy funds to pay for optional all-day kindergarten classes.

It also retains a revised funding formula, which distributes half the money to schools based on enrollment in kindergarten through third grade, with the other half going to schools based on the number of students who are proficient in reading or who improve over the course of the year.

New language was added requiring schools to provide a disclosure statement to voters, indicating what any supplemental levy funding would be used for, and restricting schools to using levy revenues only for the identified purposes.

That language was intended to address concerns that school districts might continue to include kindergarten costs in their local levies, even though they now have access to state funding.

The measure passed the House 40-29 and now moves to the Senate for further action.

Reps. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird; Mike Kingsley, R-Lewiston; and Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow, opposed the measure. Reps. Caroline Troy, R-Genesee; Lori McCann, R-Lewiston; and Charlie Shepherd, R-Pollock, supported the bill.

Public school budget — The House approved six of the seven fiscal 2023 appropriations bills for public schools, including the teachers’ division, operations and administration.

The bills now move to the Senate for further action. The last public schools appropriation bill, for children’s programs, wasn’t taken up Monday.

Dyslexia awareness — The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 731, which is intends to help identify and assist public schools students with dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty in accurately or fluently recognizing words and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. It affects about 20% of students nationwide.

Identifying students with dyslexia at a young age is considered key in helping them overcome their reading disabilities.

HB 731 requires all students in kindergarten through fifth grade to be assessed for characteristics of dyslexia when they first enroll in school. It also specifies professional development requirements for teachers and administrators, and proposes one full-time position and $97,000 in funding for the State Department of Education to help implement the bill.

The measure previously passed the House 64-0 and now goes to the governor for his signature.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.