‘The workforce of tomorrow’: Gov. Little proposes $1.1 billion in education funding
Gov. Brad Little proposed pouring more than $1 billion in public education across Idaho over the next five years to help fund teacher salaries, early literacy programs and career and workforce training.
In his State of the State address Monday, the governor said his proposal would be the largest investment ever in Idaho education. Idaho for years has consistently ranked last or near-last in its per-student spending.
“The children today will become the workforce of tomorrow,” Little said during his address. “We want our Idaho students to receive a strong foundation of learning now so they can stay here and make our state strong for future generations.”
The governor’s budget proposal included adding $300 million to the state’s public schools general fund, an 11% increase. Those funds would go toward giving teachers bonuses, increasing teacher pay and upping the state’s contribution for teacher health insurance premiums.
“If you’re running a business, you know you can only attract and retain dedicated, quality workers by paying them competitively, offering good benefits, and making them feel valued,” Little said. “Our educator workforce is no different.”
The governor also talked about the emphasis he has put on early literacy, proposing about $47 million to be used for literacy programs. Those funds could go toward programs such as full-day kindergarten and reading coaches.
Legislators are planning a push to fund optional full-day kindergarten this session. The state currently funds half-day kindergarten, and many school districts have relied on supplemental levies or tuition charges to fund their own full-day kindergarten programs.
“Literacy has been my top priority because it just makes sense,” Little said. “Our investments in education later on will have more impact if we can work with families to get more students to read proficiently early on. Adding these investments now will increase state literacy funding five-fold since I took office just three years ago.”
About $50 million in the governor’s proposal would go toward “Empowering Parents” grants. Little said parental involvement was key to strong schools. The grants, Little said, would help families cover educational expenses such as computers, tutoring and internet.
“The Empowering Parents grants put families in control of their child’s education, as it should be,” Little said.
Other investments included increasing funding for universities by 7.1% and for community colleges by 4.8% and investing $10 million in career technical education.
Last year, Idaho lawmakers cut $2.1 million from university budgets over fears universities were teaching critical race theory and providing other social justice programs.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 2:19 PM.
