Legislators call for boosting Idaho education budget by nearly $79 million

This story was originally published on IdahoEdNews.org on March 3, 2020.

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee unanimously called for increasing public school spending by $78.7 million next year, a 4.1 percent increase above current levels.

Over the course of an hour on Tuesday, JFAC members passed the seven budgets that come together to make up the $1.9 billion public school budget.

But there could be more on the way. If the Senate passes House Bill 523, Gov. Brad Little’s five-year, $223 million plan to increase teacher pay, legislators would add about $8 million to the budget through a “trailer bill” that would follow the original school budgets. If that happens, the overall increase for public schools would total 4.6 percent next year, JFAC Vice Chairwoman Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, said.

“This is still a very solid budget for our public schools,” Horman said.

Budget highlights include:

• $24 million in new funding for teacher salaries through the career ladder to “true up” or align the full-time employee counts in each cell of the career ladder.
• $11.5 million to pay for support unit growth, which is estimated to increase by 203 units. In budget lingo, a support unit is roughly the equivalent of one classroom.
• $7.4 million to increase discretionary spending to help cover the cost of health insurance.
• $6 million to continue increasing minimum salaries in line with House Bill 153 from 2019.
• $3.1 million for Idaho’s K-3 literacy initiative, which will make the entire $26.1 million earmark for literacy proficiency ongoing funding in the budget.
• $2 million in increased funding for the advanced opportunities program.
• $1 million for professional development that districts and charters may use toward training or resources to support social-emotional learning, suicide prevention or students’ mental wellness.

“I am just really excited that education continues to be the top priority,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra said.

Ybarra said the budget addresses three of her four top priorities: literacy proficiency, increasing pay for teachers through the career ladder and social-emotional learning support. The Legislature did not provide funding for her fourth priority, a $500,000 request to expand the mastery-based education program. After the budget hearing, Ybarra said she will continue to support schools as they transition to mastery. Even though the funding increase was not approved, the mastery program remains in place for districts and charters.

“What that means is the work will still continue; we will still support school in going that direction,” Ybarra said.

While the public school budget received unanimous support, there were some fireworks as legislators turned their attention to the smaller office budget for the superintendent of public instruction. After some debate, JFAC voted to move the State Department of Education’s IT and data management programs to the State Board of Education. Along with the move, budget writers took $2.7 million and 18 full-time positions away from Ybarra’s SDE and gave them to the State Board in order to centralize IT and data management under the State Board.

Sen. Carl Crabtree, R-Grangeville, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, said legislators believe it will result in greater efficiency having IT and data management all located under the State Board’s umbrella.

“This has been an ongoing conversation for a number of years to try and get things together under one roof,” Crabtree said.

Ybarra said the move caught her by surprise.

“I remain concerned about such a massive change, but I will make sure, my No. 1 job, is to make sure that districts have what they need and that is what I be working on to make sure there is no disruption to districts,” Ybarra said.

JFAC approved the change in the superintendent’s office budget on a 15-5 vote, and the IT and data management transition would be set to occur July 1.

Overall, the JFAC-approved budget is a little bit closer in line with Little’s recommended 4.1 percent increase than Ybarra’s proposed 5.3 percent increase.

While next year’s budget includes a $78.7 million spending increase, it’s a smaller increase than budget writers have approved over the past five years. Over that time, increases of $100 million or more were the norm.

“We want be cautious with spending and efficient in our management like we did today to try to do a better job for the people,” Crabtree said.

The public school budget will next be broken down into seven budget bills that still need to pass the full House and Senate. The public school budget is Idaho’s largest general fund expense each year and has recently accounted for about 49 percent of all general fund spending. Once the remaining budget is written and the Senate takes action on House Bill 523, it will become clear what percent of the state budget will be dedicated to public schools next year.