Idaho’s public education system is becoming a charity case

The way Idaho is treating its schoolchildren, particularly during the pandemic, is an embarrassment.

This week, we learned that Idaho is the only state in the country that hasn’t applied for a federal pandemic school lunch program for families who qualify for free or reduced lunch during the school year.

Every single state and the District of Columbia applied for this program. But not Idaho.

Even if Idaho does finally apply for the funding this week, as state officials have said could happen, it’s an embarrassment that it took so long to apply and that Idaho didn’t utilize the program during the time it was most needed, after school closures in the spring.

More than 35 states were part of the program by mid-May, and applications to join have been granted as recently as July 9, when Utah came on board.

This all comes at a time when Idaho is ranked No. 51 in the nation in per-pupil spending. On top of that, Gov. Brad Little ordered $99 million in K-12 education holdbacks in next year’s budget. The state should be spending more on education during the pandemic, not less.

Meanwhile, the state of Idaho has received $1.25 billion from the federal government in pandemic relief money.

The committee charged with spending that money has been doling it out to businesses and using some of the money to try to bribe what the state must consider to be lazy people to go back to work.

So far, the committee has approved more than $75 million in Idaho Rebound Cash Grants for small businesses; $94 million to local governments; $25.7 million in return-to-work bonuses; $1 million in masks, gloves and sanitizers for businesses; and a $200 million plan to pay for local public safety agencies, providing property tax relief.

At the same time, Little declared Aug. 5 “Close the Digital Divide Day” in Idaho.

In Idaho, though, “closing the digital divide” means begging people to donate their old laptops for schoolchildren who probably will have to stay home to take classes online.

Kudos to the organization Idaho Business for Education and their partners for working with the State Board of Education to make this happen.

But asking for donations of old laptops does not a strategy make.

Idaho shouldn’t have to rely on people’s old devices that are lying around, usually because they don’t work any longer or have problems. Who’s going to fix them? How much will it take to fix them? Who will pay for repairs?

Finally, on Monday, the Assistance League of Boise released its list of increased school supplies it is donating as part of its 30-year program, Operation School Supplies. This year, the organization is helping about 15,000 elementary and middle school students in need at 95 schools in the Kuna, Boise and West Ada school districts.

The Assistance League and Idaho Business for Education are to be applauded and thanked for stepping up and doing their part to help.

It’s just sad that charities have to step in to help provide even the most basic needs of Idaho’s schoolchildren.

As school districts begin to make the wise decision to start the school year online, it’s way past time for Idaho’s Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee to approve much-needed funds to school districts for technology, devices and training to ensure the state lives up to its constitutional mandate to “maintain a general, uniform, and thorough system of public, free common schools.”