A few dozen people gathered for a town hall at Eagle High School last week. The topic: Should your tax dollars go to private schools? 

This might seem like a moot point, considering the Idaho Legislature this year passed House Bill 93, the state’s first taxpayer-funded program to support K-12 private school tuition. The Parental Choice Tax Credit, signed into law in February, is set to deliver $50 million to private school and home-school families this fiscal year.

But Idaho’s debate over private school choice is far from settled. Opponents have said they’ll sue to block the tax credit, and supporters likely will try to lift the $50 million cap on Idaho’s tax credit next legislative session, which kicks off in just eight months.

In the meantime, Save Our Schools Idaho, a little-known group founded by retired public school administrators, is hoping to build opposition to HB 93 through a series of town halls. Last week’s meeting in Eagle was one of four scheduled in the Treasure Valley. Next, the group is planning to take its roadshow statewide. 

Save Our Schools (SOS) hasn’t been a regular player in Idaho’s yearslong debate over private school choice, but it spent tens of thousands of dollars lobbying against the tax credit bill. And its new target is stopping any more public funds from going to private schools. 

“We’re deeply concerned about any efforts to expand this program beyond its current scope,” said Teresa Fabricius former superintendent of the Fruitland School District and SOS board member.

What is Save Our Schools? 

Wil Overgaard, the former superintendent of the Weiser School District, was one of a handful of retired public school administrators who founded Save Our Schools Idaho in 2023. 

Public school administrators often don’t share their opinions on education politics, because they answer to school board trustees and to parents, Overgaard told roughly 40 people in Eagle High School’s cafeteria last week. “I don’t have those restrictions anymore, and I feel strongly that this is a move in the wrong direction,” he said, referring to the new tax credit, which opponents often call a “voucher.”

“This group, the coalition that opposes vouchers, is saying ‘not another dollar more,’” Overgaard said.  

SOS was founded to oppose “the diversion of taxpayer dollars to private and for-profit schools” and to counter “the out-of-state special interests pushing this agenda,” Fabricius told Idaho Education News. Fruitland’s superintendent from 2012 to 2020, Fabricius said she has seen firsthand how “every dollar matters” in public education, particularly in rural communities. State spending on private education means “less support for the schools that serve the vast majority of our students.”

“​​Our concern at Save Our Schools isn’t with families who choose private education,” she said. “We believe that public, taxpayer dollars should not be used for private schools — schools that don’t have to follow the same state rules, serve all students, or meet the same standards.”

Along with Overgaard, Ken Hart and Geoff Thomas were founding members of SOS. Hart is a retired University of Idaho extension professor and farmer. Thomas is a former superintendent and current assistant professor in education at Idaho State University. 

Current board members include Hart, Fabricius and Tim Rosandick, a retired K-12 educator and former Treasure Valley Community College dean.

SOS not affiliated with Arizona group

SOS Idaho isn’t affiliated with Save Our Schools Arizona, Fabricius said. But the groups have similar missions. 

Save Our Schools Arizona in 2017 led a voter referendum to strike down a law that would’ve made nearly all Arizona students eligible for private education subsidies. Arizona lawmakers and former Gov. Doug Ducey passed a similar expansion five years later, and spending on the program is now upward of $800 million, a 323% increase since 2022.

SOS Idaho organizers fear lawmakers will push for similar expansion of Parental Choice Tax Credit and eliminate or raise the $50 million cap.

“In other states, voucher programs have ballooned and drained public school funding without much public input,” Fabricius said. “We want to ensure that doesn’t happen here.”

Rep. Wendy Horman, a co-sponsor of HB 93 and leading Idaho advocate for private school choice, acknowledged that a potential expansion of the tax credit is built into the program. HB 93 directed the Idaho State Tax Commission, which will administer the program, to create a waiting list “demonstrating who would be eligible on a first-come, first-served basis if the annual maximum limit…increased.”

“We’ve created a thoughtful and reasonable process for identifying if the program should be expanded, and that was intentional,” she said. The Parental Choice Tax Credit “can only grow if the Legislature allows it to in the future, and there’s a demonstrated need.”

Horman said SOS members are “entitled to their opinion,” but the Idaho Falls Republican noted that Idaho last year invested $1 billion in public school facilities, and Arizona’s education department is running a surplus. And she rebuked claims that school choice policy is motivated by “out-of-state” interests. 

 “I work on it because I care,” she said. “You have to choose who to believe, and they’re putting some information out there that is easily challenged with facts and budgets.”

SOS a top lobbying spender

SOS has largely flown under the radar since its founding two years ago, particularly compared to more vocal and more established private school choice opposition groups like the Idaho School Boards Association, Idaho Business for Education and Idaho Education Association. 

But the group has been busy behind the scenes. Since January, SOS has spent about $84,000 on television, direct mail and social media advertisements, according to lobbying disclosures filed with the Secretary of State’s office. 

This spending ranked third among groups that disclosed lobbying activities related to HB 93. Two out-of-state groups that supported the bill, Yes.Every.Kid and Club for Growth, each spent about $166,000.

Fabricius said SOS is supported by “a coalition of pro-public education organizations and individual donors,” but she declined to say who funded its lobbying efforts. 

“As an issue advocacy group that has not engaged in political campaign activity, Save Our Schools Idaho is not required to disclose donor information, and we respect the privacy of those who support our mission,” she said by email.

The recent town halls have featured panelists representing the Idaho School Boards Association, Idaho PTA and National Education Association along with trustees and administrators from Treasure Valley public school districts, including Boise and Kuna. 

“These gatherings are opportunities to share information and listen to concerns — especially from families in communities who are already facing tight school budgets and limited resources,” Fabricius said. 

Attendees of last week’s Eagle town hall asked about the mechanics of the tax credit as well as the politics that led to its passage — including whether Gov. Brad Little actually supported HB 93 when he signed it or whether it was a political move to appease conservative Republicans. 

A couple people criticized SOS for failing to have “provocative” messaging that appeals to a sound-bite driven electorate. “You have an opportunity to do a position change on this,” one woman said. “You can’t reach the people if you don’t trigger that gut reaction.”

Can teachers join SOS?

SOS is not a “teacher-led organization,” Fabricius said, and it hasn’t organized teacher participation in the group. 

But public employees are “free to engage in advocacy as private citizens, as long as they do so outside of work hours and without using public resources,” she said. “Their voices are invaluable in helping policymakers understand how we can improve outcomes for students.”

Idaho law prohibits public school employees from using public resources to promote school funding measures like bonds and levies. But the law also protects their right to privately engage in political causes and campaigns.

Hali Goodrich, an English and Spanish teacher at Eagle High School, volunteered to help SOS at last week’s town hall. A 10-year West Ada School District teacher, Goodrich said she can’t ignore important education issues, and she worries private school spending could threaten her school’s funding. 

“It’s potentially your job and your livelihood,” she told EdNews. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t be fired up about that, and fired up in a way that makes you be more of an advocate.”