Today, Idaho Senate Republicans passed the K-12 public school budget for the coming year. Senate Bill 1362 leaves major funding gaps in place and forces schools to absorb rising costs with too little state support. In response, Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Janie Ward-Engelking released the following statement:
“Republicans said public education would be a priority this year. This budget proves otherwise. It leaves schools without the funding they need to keep up with rising costs, continues to underfund special education, and does nothing to fix Idaho’s outdated school funding formula. It shortchanges students who rely on the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance, especially in rural communities where it can be the only way to access coursework, recover credits, and stay on track for graduation. It also ignores critical needs at the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind, including staffing for the new dormitory and a new Braille embosser. Republicans also cut funding for school employee health benefits and transportation, leaving local districts to make up the difference. That is not real support for public education. It is a cost shift onto local schools and communities. Idaho students deserve a budget that meets the real cost of educating them.”
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