(CORRECTED, 2:27 p.m. Thursday, to reflect that $19.4 million would be a $9 million increase from the current budget, and reflects a request made by former state superintendent Tom Luna.)
State superintendent Sherri Ybarra focused in on a $9 million piece of her $1.45 billion K-12 budget request Tuesday.
Ybarra said her $9 million boost in technology spending would be free for schools and districts to use as they choose — for infrastructure, learning management systems or staffing.
In brief remarks at an Idaho Education Technology Association conference in Boise, the newly elected superintendent discussed the need for a “common-sense” approach to technology, incorporating devices, infrastructure and a vision for school technology.
Ybarra wants to put $19.4 million into classroom technology in 2015-16. That represents a $9 million increase from the 2014-15 budget, and it reflects a proposed increase made in September by Ybarra’s predecessor, former state superintendent Tom Luna.
However, Gov. Butch Otter is seeking $21.4 million for technology, an $11 million boost from the 2014-15 budget.
