Kevin’s blog

Here are seven education-related bills to watch in the next 24 hours. And one other foolproof harbinger of the end of a legislative session.

A school safety bill appears dead. A once-defeated school labor bill may rise from the dead. Confusing? Yes. So here is a quick civics lesson, Statehouse style.

The State Department of Education studied four-day school calendars and cost savings for school districts — in 2008. A recent newspaper story is bringing this five-year-old study some new attention.

The Senate is fixing for a fight Wednesday over the 2013-14 public schools budget. And one small-town elementary school’s technology program appears to be in the midst of the battle.

If you’re keeping score, there may be four education-related committees to watch this summer. Legislators could spend the summer studying the transfer of federal lands to state ownership.

Rising payments to the state’s land endowment could drive some leaseholders to walk away from their lakeside cabins. So the Idaho Department of Lands is trying to cushion the blow.

Never underestimate what can happen when lawmakers can amend a high-profile bill. On Wednesday, the Senate struck down language that was near and dear to charter school advocates.

The 2013-14 public school budget bill surfaced Wednesday. The 2012-13 public school budget fix went back into hiding. What does it all mean?

A lawmaker argues against a bill that would provide income tax credits for private school scholarship — with a shout out to the nuns from his Catholic school.

Less than a week after voters approved a $4.3 million school levy, Nampa school administrators are planning to close an elementary school to balance the district’s books.