The Big Beautiful Bill will undermine Idaho public school funding | Opinion

I’m a dental hygienist, a working mom and the proud parent of two kids in Idaho’s public schools.

Recently, I took a week of unpaid leave from my job and time away from my family to travel to Washington, D.C. I didn’t go on vacation. I went to speak out against a national school voucher scheme that threatens to dismantle the very public schools my kids — and millions of others — depend on.

This wasn’t a small decision. Like many working families, my schedule is packed, my budget is tight, and my patients count on me, with some booking appointments a year in advance. Rearranging my schedule on short notice is a logistical headache, coordinating with my office and asking for understanding from people I value deeply.

But I did it because this fight is too important to ignore.

Buried inside Congress’s massive reconciliation package, what some are calling the “Big Beautiful Bill,” is a dangerous national voucher plan. It would funnel $20 billion in public tax dollars into private and religious schools through tax credits for wealthy donors. Supporters call it “school choice,” but that’s not what it is. It’s privatization dressed up in a nice phrase.

Here in Idaho, we already have real choices within our public school system: neighborhood schools, magnet programs, charter schools, career-technical education and even virtual options. These choices are public, accountable and available to all families.

So why are lawmakers pushing a scheme that would divert public dollars into private hands, especially in rural Idaho, where private schools are few and far between?

The truth is, vouchers won’t help most families here. They’ll hurt us. Because every dollar sent to a private school is a dollar taken from our already underfunded public schools.

We’re living in a time when politicians want to privatize everything, from our schools to our health care to our public lands. It’s not about improving systems. It’s about dismantling them for profit.

If the goal were truly opportunity, lawmakers would invest in the public schools we all rely on. They’d raise teacher pay, fix outdated buildings and reduce class sizes. Instead, they’ve underfunded schools for years, then used that underfunding to justify vouchers as the “solution.” It’s a manufactured crisis, and families like mine are the ones paying for it.

In Idaho, we’ve had to rely on local levies and school bonds just to keep schools open, pushing the burden onto working families while lawmakers avoid responsibility. Our public schools are surviving on bake sales. That’s not sustainable. And it’s not fair.

I went to D.C. because our public schools are worth fighting for. Moms like me — we see the game being played. We’re busy, but we vote. We advocate. And we’re not backing down.

Public education isn’t a partisan issue. It’s a public good. I’m not just fighting for my kids — I’m fighting for yours, too. Because if you care about your child’s education, you should care about every child’s education.