Idaho lawmakers must take action this session to keep good teachers here in Idaho | Opinion

As a ninth-grade student at South Junior High School, I see how hard public school teachers work for their students and how that work is often undervalued by our elected officials.

My teachers should feel appreciated. It’s wrong that Idaho is last of 50 states in education funding. That’s why I volunteered with Reclaim Idaho to help get the Quality Education Act onto the ballot.

Together with 1,000 volunteers, we collected over 100,000 signatures. The Quality Education Act was set to appear on the 2022 ballot.

Everything changed when Idaho Gov. Brad Little called for a special session of the Legislature. The Legislature responded to the pressure of our ballot-initiative campaign by increasing education funding by $410 million and passing a provision that blocked our ballot initiative from going into effect.

I was disappointed with the Legislature because they blocked our initiative, but I considered it a victory that the Legislature increased funding for public schools by $410 million — the largest amount in decades.

However, Idahoans shouldn’t take it for granted that our lawmakers will keep their promise. The governor and Legislature must take action to invest the $410 million in urgent priorities.

With my mom, I joined over 30 events and spoke with thousands of Idahoans. Volunteering for Reclaim Idaho was a great experience. I learned that the majority of Idahoans are committed to our public schools. People from across the political spectrum agreed that Idaho must do better by our teachers and students.

The majority of people I spoke with are concerned that we’re not investing in our teachers. They’re right to be concerned. According to a recent report by the National Education Association, a teacher in Idaho earns less than teachers in all surrounding states.

Another report by the NEA found that 51% of Idaho teachers are considering leaving the profession. Just think what that means. What that could mean for me, for my brother and for every student in Idaho. At the beginning of this school year, hundreds of teaching positions were unfilled in Idaho.

Sadly this is understandable. You have to be dedicated to teaching and be able to afford low pay to not switch to a less stressful, more highly paying job. I see every day how hard it is to be a teacher. The least we can do is give them a decent salary.

The disruptions of the Covid pandemic made me appreciate my relationships with my teachers. Being able to ask all the questions I need to, even staying after class to talk with teachers more in depth about interesting subjects, is very helpful for me. I feel I have a good relationship with all my teachers. However, with so many teachers leaving, it has been harder to keep relationships with teachers going and to build good relationships with new teachers.

We have already lost teachers because they’re over-worked and disrespected. I hope that for students like me — as well as our teachers and teachers all over the state — our government will do something to change that.

In getting the Legislature to finally take education funding seriously, we won a major victory. And just as importantly, we fought for what was right. That in itself will always be worth it. But we won’t stop fighting because this one thing is over. We will keep working to make the world a better place.