Idaho Gov. Little should demand: No tax cuts until early education fully funded

Idaho Gov. Brad Little is entering his fourth and final year of his first term as governor. On Jan. 10, he presents his fourth state of the state address.

Whether he wins a second term in 2022 remains to be seen, but it’s never too early to think about what type of legacy he wants to leave behind.

Little perhaps deserves more credit, including from this editorial board, for navigating the choppy waters of the coronavirus pandemic, which unfortunately has dominated his first term in office.

Before the pandemic, Little focused on public education. That focus has been sidetracked by the pandemic, but because of that, Little should double down on public education as a priority.

Our hope is that, as we listen to the governor’s state of the state address on Jan. 10, we hear a stronger commitment to adequately funding public education and winning legislative approval for some of the long-promised goals to improve education in Idaho.

Little has made good on some promises, including raising beginning teacher pay to $40,000 and doubling literacy funding.

However, as we’ve pointed out many times, Idaho still ranks dead-last, 51st in the nation, in per-pupil education funding.

Idaho’s “go on” rate, students going on from high school to college or a career technical institution, was already low and has dropped from 50% in 2017 to 45% in 2019, according to Idaho Ed News.

In 2015, then-Sen. Jeff Siddoway, Republican chairman of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee, famously declared he would not advance any new tax cuts until beginning teacher pay was increased to $40,000.

In his state of the state address, Gov. Little should make a similar ultimatum to the Legislature: No new tax cuts until we properly fund public education.

Unfortunately, we’re already hearing that legislators and the governor have their eye on a $400 million tax cut in the upcoming session.

Gov. Little should promise a veto of such a tax cut unless and until the Legislature delivers a number of public education policies and funding measures.

Holding back the tax cut not only provides leverage but is simply the right thing to do: Idaho should not be cutting taxes while basic government services, such as education, are being starved.

Any tax cut this session would be on top of a $435 million tax cut the Legislature passed last session.

Idaho has a whole host of unfunded education needs, some of which were recommended by Little’s own “Our Kids, Idaho’s Future” task force.

Perhaps the easiest and most impactful place to start is early childhood education.

Gov. Little should give legislators an ultimatum on approving state funding for all-day kindergarten, something legislators failed to do last session while they were busy passing the tax cut. The cost of all-day kindergarten was expected to be $42 million, which should have been approved before cutting $435 million in taxes.

After winning approval of funding for all-day kindergarten, Little should then turn his attention to pre-kindergarten programs across the state. Idaho is one of just four states that does not fund preschool education.

Last session, Republican legislators, fomented by far-fetched fantasies dreamed up by the Idaho Freedom Foundation about left-wing indoctrination, killed a $6 million federal grant to run 15 preschool programs throughout the state. Each of these programs went to efforts to help children get ready to learn in kindergarten. One such program in Kuna showed that reading proficiency shot up to 80% among participants.

If Idaho’s Republican legislators don’t want to accept federal money for preschool programs, they should fund them with state dollars. Little should hold any tax cut bill hostage until he secures funding for early childhood education programs.

Little has made early literacy a goal of his administration, citing education as his top priority in each of his state of the state addresses.

“Our goal must be to ensure all kids begin at the same starting line in life,” Little said in his inaugural address in 2019. “By the third grade, our students must learn to read so they can read to learn.”

Unfortunately, only about 70% of all third graders tested at or above grade level this spring, according to Idaho Ed News. That’s down from pre-pandemic levels. In the spring of 2019, 73.5% of third graders were reading at grade level.

Buffeted by an estimated $1.6 billion budget surplus, Little has an opportunity this year to make good on promises he’s made as a candidate and as governor.

If Gov. Little really wants to ensure every Idaho third grader is reading to learn, preschool programs and all-day kindergarten provide the biggest bang for the buck and give him the best chance of achieving his goals as governor.

More than just tax cuts and deregulation, it would also help him solidify a meaningful legacy as governor.