State Board launches survey on school funding formula

Kevin Richert | 10/05/2016

Do you have an opinion about the way the state funds public schools?

Then the State Board of Education wants to hear from you.

The State Board has launched an online survey to gauge public opinion on Idaho’s school funding formula.

The formula is Idaho’s complex mechanism for carving up more than $1.5 billion in public school dollars. Legislators last rewrote the formula in 1994, and a legislative committee is looking at revamping the formula.

Wendy Horman school funding committee — Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls

“An important part of our work is to learn what Idahoans think about the way we currently fund our public schools and see where they believe we can make improvements,” the committee’s co-chairs, Sen. Chuck Winder and Rep. Wendy Horman, said in a joint statement Tuesday. “It is critical for us to hear from Idaho citizens throughout the state if we are to make effective and lasting improvements in how we fund Idaho schools.”

The online survey went live Tuesday, and will be available for at least two weeks.

The survey is anonymous, but results will be reported publicly to the Legislature’s funding formula committee.

Kevin Richert

Senior reporter and blogger Kevin Richert specializes in education politics and education policy. He has more than 30 years of experience in Idaho journalism. He is a frequent guest on "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public Television and "Idaho Matters" on Boise State Public Radio. Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevinRichert. He can be reached at [email protected]