State Policy
Idaho DOGE committee asks for public to report government ‘waste’
In an inaugural meeting Friday, lawmakers announced the launch of an online portal where citizens can report ‘duplication, waste and inefficiencies.’
Analysis: Idaho’s fight over private school choice is far from finished
The 2025 Legislature passed a $50 million private school tax credit program. Heading into the 2026 session, $50 million looks to be the boundary on the map and the line in the sand.
Analysis: Taxpayers get the bill for an open meetings lawsuit — and get no answers
After two years, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs, it’s unclear whether the State Board of Education’s closed-door discussions of the University of Phoenix violated state law.
Supreme Court will rule on Idaho’s transgender athletics ban
It’s unclear when the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Idaho’s first-in-the-nation ban, passed in 2020. The ruling figures to be a landmark moment in the national debate.
GOP resolution calls for partisan school board elections
“Nonpartisan elections fail to provide voters with clear information about the moral and political stances of candidates,” reads the resolution, approved during the GOP state central committee’s annual summer meeting in June.
Analysis: An online school mushroomed during the pandemic — and lawmakers slept through it
The Idaho Home Learning Academy quietly grew its enrollment to 8,000 and its budget to $55 million a year. IHLA’s lackluster test scores and unorthodox business model have finally caught legislators’ attention.
University presidents agree to pay freezes
“They all felt that it was appropriate for them to hold their compensation level for this coming year,” State Board of Education member Bill Gilbert said Wednesday.
Details of U of I legal settlement remain under wraps
The State Board of Education took up the multimillion-dollar dispute Wednesday — spending just two minutes discussing the settlement in cryptic terms, then voting unanimously to approve it.
Analysis: This time around, Idaho’s budget problems begin close to home
After binging on tax cuts and tax breaks, Idaho appears to be teetering on a tipping point. A self-imposed budget crisis could be looming — and it could affect education.
Analysis: As the Boise State search continues, a checklist begins to take shape
Boise State University’s stakeholders want many of the same things in a new president. Here’s what Idaho Education News learned through a public records request.