On Friday, the Senate passed a bill to help educators in high-need and rural areas with various educational costs.
Senate Bill 1290, sponsored by Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking (D-Boise) and Rep. Sally Toone (D-Gooding), establishes a rural educator incentive program for educators who work in high-need or rural school districts and charter schools. It would provide the maximum amount of eligible funding, which gradually increases for each year the educator stays in the school.
Ward-Engelking said the program provides $1,500 to an educator after their first year, $2,500 the second, $3,500 the third, and $4,500 the fourth, for a max total of $12,000. The funds could cover education loan repayments, additional and advanced degrees, or other educational costs.
Both Ward-Engelking and Toone have spent a number of years trying to pass different versions of the bill, which aims to help retain and support Idaho educators in rural and high-need areas, where the state’s teacher shortage is even more severe.
“Our educators do so much for our children and local communities,” Ward-Engelking said. “This program is a way to give them more time working with students, instead of needing two jobs just to pay rent and a loan payment, making it easier to stay in our rural areas and the profession.”