2019 Idaho Legislature

Statehouse roundup, 2.20.19: Teacher salary bill advances

INSIDE: Vaccination opt-out bill passes — barely — after a tense hearing. And JFAC decides on more education budgets.

Opportunity Scholarship 101

It’s budget crunch time. Lawmakers are moving money around. What does that mean for college students and young readers? We explain.

Statehouse roundup, 2.19.19: Funding formula update; ISBA Day on the Hill activities

Education groups and legislators are meeting behind the scenes in hopes of introducing a funding bill by next week.

Rapid fire: JFAC approves $1.9 billion in K-12 school budgets

Budget-writers agreed — unanimously — to put an additional $49 million into the teacher salary career ladder, and double literacy program funding to $26 million. The seven budget bills now go to the House and Senate.

Statehouse roundup, 2.15.19: Senate passes turnaround schools bill; rules fight heats up

Sen. Dean Mortimer’s voluntary turnaround bill now heads to the House, where a similar bill stalled out a year ago.

Monday’s big K-12 budget hearing: what to watch for

Lawmakers will make decisions that could dictate where the state’s public school dollars go — and set the stage for other spending bills down the road.

Statehouse roundup, 2.14.19: Charter administrators bill heads to Senate floor

In other news, a Nampa student gets a hearing on a bill to give high-achieving students a more flexible high school schedule.

Statehouse roundup, 2.13.19: Teacher pay raise bill unveiled; guns-in-schools bill on hold

Gov. Little has changed his salary proposal since January’s State of the State address.

Report: Funding formula ‘wealth adjustment’ could put more financial pressure on schools

The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy issued a report Tuesday on the possible outcomes of a “noble goal.”

Statehouse roundup, 2.11.19: New immunization opt-out bill surfaces

In other Statehouse news, an East Idaho school district says an Idaho Falls legislator jumped the gun on a sex education bill.