Ed groups: Reject ‘school choice’ proposals

BOISE — Unions for teachers, school boards and administrators are calling on state lawmakers to invest in public schools rather than proposals to help fund private schooling.

The Idaho Education Association, Idaho Association of School Administrators and Idaho School Boards Association held a news conference Monday at the Capitol to voice opposition to any proposed legislation that would allow state funds to go toward private tuition or homeschooling.

“It’s not too late to tell the legislators that Idaho does not have to touch this politically motivated stove to know that it’s hot, that the taxpayer burn is going to be huge, and it’s not going to go away,” said former Rep. Julie Yamamoto.

Yamamoto previously served as chairperson of the House Education Committee before she was defeated in the 2024 primary election; Yamamoto has staunchly opposed these types of “school choice” proposals, which would allow state funds to go toward private education.

Several of these kinds of school choice proposals have come forward the last few legislative sessions. None have advanced far, but there has been significant funding from the out-of-state group American Federation for Children in both lobbying and elections. Several incumbent lawmakers, including Yamamoto, lost their primary contests to opponents who favored these types of school choice programs.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little in his State of the State address said he was proposing $50 million for private “school choice” initiatives, although he did not specify what that might look like.

Caldwell educator and Idaho Education Association board member Melyssa Ferro gave several recommendations for uses of $50 million within the public school system, including funding more school counselors, more funding for school building maintenance, paying for the costs for special education and paying bilingual reports to serve students who have language barriers.

Major proposals in the private school choice arena are expected to be introduced this session.

Freshman legislator Rep. Clint Hostetler, R-Twin Falls, in the first week of session introduced HB1, a personal bill aimed at creating a universal refundable tax credit of $9,500 per student to use toward private school tuition or other educational expenses. The fiscal note estimated that the cost could go up to $250 million if the program were “fully subscribed.”

Personal bills are introduced on the floor and circumvent the committee process. Traditionally, these bills are largely symbolic and get filed with the clerk, where they do not move forward.

Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, and Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, have said they will introduce another version of a bill they tried last year that would also create a refundable tax credit for private schooling.

Some proponents of these proposals have wanted to implement a program similar to Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account, or ESA.

Yamamoto on Monday highlighted the growing cost of Arizona’s program, which previously was only available to a smaller subset of students but was expanded in 2022 to include all Arizona families. She also noted a 2024 indictment of a Colorado family who fraudulently sought scholarships for 43 fictitious children and received around $110,000 from the program.

Some of the teachers standing behind the speakers at Monday’s event held signs that said, “Arizona’s Voucher Failure Is Idaho’s WARNING.”

Heather Williams, Pleasant Valley School District Superintendent, and Boundary County School District Trustee Teresa Rae also spoke Monday to the need to invest further in Idaho’s public schools.

Rae said that because Idaho consistently ranks toward the bottom in education spending, she felt the public schools are “being sabotaged by the state of Idaho by not funding us to a higher level.”

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.