On Friday afternoon, Governor Little announced that he would use $99 million from the CARES act to supplement the $99 million in education cuts that he announced earlier this year.
Representative Melissa Wintrow/(D-Boise) was relieved to hear the announcement from the Governor.
“As a Representative on the ground floor of education funding and the handling of the state’s budget as a member of CFAC and JFAC,” Rep. Wintrow said, “education has been on the chopping block since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Our parents and students are anxious that schools won’t have adequate funding to keep our students safe and give them a quality education. And, our communities are worried about Idaho’s future when we aren’t making meaningful investments to give kids a world-class education. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief during the Governor’s press conference because Idaho schools genuinely need the $99 million that was cut from their budgets. The Governor should further apply the federal funding that is available to supplement the money that our schools will need to keep students safe when they are required to attend class in-person. CARES funding could be used to purchase PPE and other necessary safety supplies to keep students and teachers healthy.”
“Idaho Democrats understand the long-term, upstream benefits of education and we are happy to see the Governor taking a step in the right direction by accepting this federal Hail Mary. We are relieved that the federal funding can be used to restore education funding that the Governor cut, but it’s disappointing that the cuts were made in the first place. Education is chronically underfunded in Idaho and our state consistently falls at the bottom of educational achievement lists. We reap what we sow with education funding. Adequate education funding results in decreased crime rates, fewer Idahoans experiencing homelessness, lower poverty rates, and a stronger, more resilient economy. Idahoans are smart and hard-working, but they can’t achieve their full potential without trained, passionate teachers and accessible educational resources.”
“The coronavirus pandemic has shown us where our strengths and weaknesses are. I am pleased to see that the Governor understands the urgency of investing in Idaho’s greatest asset; our students.”