Idaho’s underfunded special education system is showing signs of strain.

As more parents pursue special education programs for their kids, that adds up to more paperwork — and more disputes between parents and district or charter officials. In the past year, cases reaching the state level have increased by 43%.

Legislative budget-writers drilled down into special education Wednesday morning, as state superintendent Debbie Critchfield discussed her 2025-26 budget requests. Wednesday’s hearing focused on the budget for the Idaho Department of Education, which Critchfield oversees. The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up the overall K-12 budget in early March.

Here are a few key points from Critchfield’s budget hearing Wednesday.

Special education. Critchfield is seeking two full-time special education positions, each at a cost of $84,400 a year. The first would be a “dispute resolution specialist.” The second would focus on special education issues in charter schools.

Dispute resolution isn’t necessarily a job of determining who is right and who is wrong, Critchfield told JFAC. It is often a matter of making sure a school has followed the feds’ special ed guidelines — especially since parents aren’t always happy with an outcome.

The demand for special education is growing, Critchfield said. And to an extent, it appears to be an aftereffect from the COVID-19 pandemic, which left young children isolated during their formative years.

“We see changes with our students coming in in our early grades,” Critchfield said.

Federal funding is not covering Idaho’s special education costs, leaving schools to fill a projected $80 million budget gap.

The K-12 budget proposal addresses a piece of that gap. In that budget, Critchfield is seeking $3 million to help schools cover the cost of serving special education students who need expensive staff support.

The legislators’ questions about special education are an encouraging sign, Critchfield said after her presentation.

“The fact that they’re asking tells me that it’s reached a level where there are many eyes on it,” Critchfield told Idaho Education News. “This is a situation where our school people are saying, ‘Yeah, we’ve been dealing with this for a long time.’”

Career-technical education. Critchfield has received a total of $65 million to pay for career-technical programs in high schools. This isn’t a new spending request; Critchfield’s office already has the money, which came mostly from the state fund that now covers the embattled Idaho Launch postsecondary aid program.

Rep. Wendy Horman, JFAC’s House co-chair, wanted to know where the money has gone. Horman, R-Idaho Falls, read from a chart in the state’s legislative budget book, which said $38.1 million remains unspent.

The funding is largely spoken for, Critchfield said, even if the state has held off on spending it. The state has approved $62.7 million for 72 projects across the state.

Competition for the money was fierce, Critchfield said, with grant applications totaling $138 million.

A new ISAT?  The state might wind up replacing the Idaho Standards Achievement Test, the state’s standardized exam administered from third grade through high school. The state’s contract with its ISAT vendor is expiring. Critchfield’s office wants to use $2.7 million — leftover federal COVID funding — for a transition to a new test.

Horman pressed Critchfield’s staff for details, asking if the $2.7 million would actually pay for a new test.

It turns out, it won’t.

The transition could cost up to $9 million.

In a followup email to Horman Wednesday, shared with EdNews, the department said it would use the $2.7 million of federal money and $6.3 million of base funding to make the change. This money would “cover both the potential transition to a new platform and the ongoing costs related to a revised assessment,” Critchfield fiscal officer Gideon Tolman told Horman.

On the other hand, the state might stand pat.

“If the current vendor is selected, the $2.7 million may not be needed, because we wouldn’t need to pilot a revised assessment,” Tolman wrote.

School attendance amendment fails, by a whisker

A bid to strike compulsory school attendance language from the state Constitution failed Wednesday — by the narrowest of margins.

House Joint Resolution 1 proposed a one-sentence change to the Constitution: “The right of the people to educate their children without government regulation outside of the public schools of the state shall not be infringed.” The amendment also would have deleted existing language in the Constitution, which allows the Legislature to require public school attendance.

The amendment’s sponsor, Rep. Dale Hawkins, said parents’ rights come not from the Legislature, but “from a heavenly body.” He said the amendment addressed only public school attendance — not the importance of education.

“Let’s put Idaho ahead in educational rights,” said Hawkins, R-Fernwood. “Let’s be first in something.”

Rep. Todd Achilles was the only lawmaker to debate the amendment. He said it would open the door to “bad parents” who decide not to teach their kids. He also said the amendment would take Idaho a step closer to striking the school attendance requirements in state law — language that exists in every other state.

“That is an area where I don’t want to lead,” said Achilles, D-Boise.

Wednesday’s vote came in at 46-23; one lawmaker, Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, was absent. But in order to pass, a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds support of the entire House — or 47 yes votes.

Bill on enrollment policies for severe behavior heads to House

A bill heading to the House would give public school boards more discretion on whether to enroll students with severe behavior issues. The House Education Committee approved House Bill 236 Wednesday. 

The bill would allow trustees to deny enrollment to students who disenrolled from prior schools rather than face expulsion. It would also allow school boards to deny enrollment to students with convictions and adjudications for certain violent crimes, including murder, assault and sex crimes. Parents would have to disclose these convictions or adjudications to a school board where their child is seeking enrollment or is currently enrolled. 

Sponsoring Rep. Shawn Dygert is a retired teacher. 

“I have had these kinds of kids appear in my class…that I would consider a threat or a safety issue for other students,” said Dygert, R-Melba. “The goal of this is simply to allow school boards to decide if they’re going to accept kids that come with certain risk factors and some convictions or adjudications.”

During a public hearing, the Idaho School Boards Association supported the bill and two advocates opposed it. Social worker Brittany Shipley of Hailey objected to denying enrollment based on habitual truancy — an existing authority of school boards — and on behaviors “deemed detrimental to health and safety.”

“These children should not be permanently defined by their path,” Shipley said. 

Dygert noted that students who are denied enrollment to a traditional school district would still be able to attend online public schools. 

The House Education Committee took action on two other proposals Wednesday: 

• The committee advanced Senate Bill 1032, which would direct public school boards to enact a policy restricting cellphone use among students. The Senate unanimously approved the bill. It now goes to the full House. 
• The committee introduced a new bill from Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, that would consolidate sections of existing law dealing with internet filtering policies in schools. The bill “doesn’t change any intent” of these laws, Horman said.

Career ladder cleanup bill heads to Senate

After a protracted Senate floor debate over private school choice, the Senate Education Committee moved quickly on the one item on its afternoon agenda.

The committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 1095, which corrects the teacher salary schedules in Idaho’s career ladder law.

In 2023 and 2024, the Legislature appropriated an additional $6,359 per teacher, across every step of the career ladder. However, the Legislature never adjusted the career ladder to reflect the increases. If it passes, SB 1095 updates the career ladder.

The proposal now goes to the Senate floor.