Do Idahoans think the state spends too little on education? Here’s what our poll found
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Idaho Statesman/SurveyUSA poll series
We commissioned a statewide poll through SurveyUSA on abortion access, LGBTQ rights, medical marijuana, education spending, DACA and election fraud. Read the results here.
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Editor’s note: This story is part of a series on the results of an Idaho Statesman/SurveyUSA poll. Other results: abortion.
Nearly two-thirds of Idaho residents don’t want taxpayer money to be used to fund private school educations, according to new poll results commissioned by the Idaho Statesman.
The poll — conducted by independent research company SurveyUSA — asked 550 adults across the state if taxpayer money should be used to help residents pay for private school educations, and if Idaho spends too much, too little, or just the right amount of money on public education.
According to the results, 63% of all adults surveyed said taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to help residents pay for private school, while 23% of respondents said it should be used. The remaining 14% of respondents said they weren’t sure.
A majority of Idaho residents also believe the state spends too little on education, according to the poll results. About 58% of those surveyed said the state spends too little and one-quarter of respondents said the state spends about the right amount. Only 8% of adults surveyed said Idaho spends too much on public education and 9% weren’t sure.
[View the complete results here]
The education polling results were part of a statewide Idaho Statesman/SurveyUSA poll on several contentious issues in Idaho. Results on questions related to abortion, marijuana, LGBTQ rights and other topics are rolling out this week at IdahoStatesman.com. The poll was conducted Oct. 17-20 online and by phone, with the pool of adults surveyed weighted to U.S. Census targets for gender, age, race, education and home ownership.
The issues surrounding public school funding in Idaho, and the debate over whether public money should go toward private schools, have stirred tension.
For the past several years, Idaho has ranked 51st out of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in its spending per student, according to studies from the National Education Association.
School districts have struggled to attract and retain teachers and classified staff members, provide employees with adequate salaries and benefits, maintain aging facilities and fund new construction.
Last legislative session, Idaho lawmakers increased education funding by about 11%, and earlier this year, the Legislature allocated another $330 million to K-12 public education in a special session. Lawmakers will decide how to spend that money next legislative session.
Education groups have said the investments represent a move away from the state’s chronic underfunding of public education, but that it is just a start.
Some also worry about that money being diverted to non-public schools.
In recent years, lawmakers have proposed a variety of bills relating to school vouchers or educational savings accounts, but none have become law.
Last session, lawmakers narrowly shot down a bill in committee that would have created scholarship accounts that families could use for students’ tuition and fees at private K-12 schools. It would have allocated money from the state’s public schools budget for the scholarships. Critics of the bill said it would harm public schools and wasn’t a constitutional use of state dollars.
Education groups, including the Idaho Education Association and the Idaho School Boards Association, have argued strongly against voucher programs. They have said Idaho schools already lack funding, and taking away money from public schools to send to private schools would only exacerbate the issues. The state also has few private schools outside of its urban areas, and private schools have less oversight and accountability when compared to public schools.
But proponents of the idea have said families should be able to determine the best schools for their children. They have also said programs that allow public money to follow students to private schools could create more competition, which could improve public schools.
Who supports or opposes more education funding?
The poll found divides among conservative and liberal adults surveyed on whether Idaho funds public education adequately, and if they think taxpayer dollars should be used to help pay for private school educations.
While only 8% of all residents said Idaho spends too much money on public education, 20% of adults who identified as “very conservative” and 9% of conservatives agreed. About one-third (32%) of very conservative respondents said Idaho spends about the right amount on education and 41% said the state spends too little.
Among respondents who identified as liberal, 84% said Idaho spends too little on public education and 13% said the state spends about the right amount.
More than two-thirds of Hispanic adults and 58% of white adults said the state spent too little on education. About one-quarter of white adults said Idaho spent about the right about, compared with 14% of Hispanic respondents who said the same.
A majority of residents 18-64 years old said Idaho spends too little on education, but among adults over 65 years old, slightly less than half (47%) agreed.
More than 40% of very conservative respondents and 33% of evangelicals said taxpayer money should be used to help residents pay for private schools. Still, nearly half (49%) of very conservative residents said taxpayer money shouldn’t be used in that way.
Among liberal respondents, only 10% said taxpayer money should go toward helping people pay for private schools and 79% said it should not.
‘We hope lawmakers are listening’
Mike Journee, spokesperson from the Idaho Education Association, said the poll numbers should show Idaho residents “believe in our public education system” and want lawmakers to invest in students’ education.
“The ability for us to fully fund public education and to stop this chronic underfunding that is starving schools of resources is essential,” he told the Statesman. “Clearly Idahoans see that and want that.”
Not adequately funding public education has cascading effects in schools and on students’ educations, he said.
Journee said Idaho residents understand that programs that take taxpayer dollars from public schools to help “a select few” pay private school tuition are “unfair and leave too many hard-working Idaho families vulnerable.”
Recent polling commissioned by the Idaho Education Association among 600 likely November voters also showed respondents wanted lawmakers to prioritize increasing pay to attract and retain teachers, giving rural schools the resources they needed to deal with teacher shortages, providing mental health services for students and paying classified staff members livable wages. In that poll, most respondents similarly said using tax dollars to pay for private school tuition was not important to them.
Katie Drum, spokesperson from the Idaho School Boards Association, said the organization wasn’t surprised by the results of the poll.
“We believe that Idahoans value investment into public schools and the students they serve, and don’t want to see their tax dollars flowing to institutions that don’t have the same accountability, transparency, and resources — including student protections and due process rights,” she said in an email.
School vouchers a flash point in superintendent race
The candidates for superintendent of public instruction have clashed multiple times over their views on school choice, and whether the state should allow public funds to follow students to private schools.
Democratic candidate Terry Gilbert, a former teacher, has often referred to the “voucher vultures,” a term he coined to talk about groups who he said push school vouchers and spread negative rumors about public schools.
He has said the state already has school choice. Idaho families can choose to send their children to public schools, charter schools or private schools, or home school their children.
Debbie Critchfield, the Republican candidate and former State Board of Education president, has said her first priority is to public schools.
“We don’t want to defund public schools, and it shouldn’t come at the risk of rural schools,” Critchfield said during a debate last week. “What I would like to see is a thoughtful and balanced approach to how we address this.”
She has said the state already allows parents to make decisions about their children’s education through a variety of programs.
“I don’t want to take from the public schools’ pie,” she told the Statesman. “Anything that we look at above and beyond that, to me, needs to come from an existing program outside of the public schools budget.”
Updated 11:32 a.m. on Nov. 2 to include comments from the Idaho Education Association and Idaho School Boards Association.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
