Hardline conservatives are taking another run at requiring schools to collect data on students’ immigration status and nationality.
And this time, their bill cleared its first hurdle.
A divided House Education Committee voted to introduce the bill, which covers K-12 and higher education.
Sponsors say the data will help the state measure the cost of teaching undocumented immigrants.
“We need some statistics. We need some information,” said Rep. Steve Tanner, R-Nampa, who is sponsoring the bill with Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood.
Two weeks ago, House Education rejected a similar bill on a 7-7 tie vote. Friday’s discussion was brief, but the vote suggested the committee remains at loggerheads on the proposal.
The committee voted 9-5 to introduce the new bill, which could come back for a full hearing.
Deadlock and dysfunction on JFAC
A testy Friday morning hearing left a budget for the state’s libraries on the shelf.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee fireworks centered on federal money and internal process.
Opponents sought to zero out a $2.5 million grant from the federal Digital Equity Act. They said the money is distributed, in part, based on ethnicity — advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. “We went down that rabbit hole and we found it,” said Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins.
Sen. Kevin Cook argued that libraries have multiyear plans for the money, for programs that will help veterans, senior citizens and rural residents who struggle with digital access. “DEI by itself is not a terrible thing,” said Cook, R-Idaho Falls. “It depends on how it’s used.”
Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow did not hide her exasperation.
“I’m just at a loss for why we’re not trying to help more people,” said Wintrow, D-Boise. “We’re not McCarthy. And what we’re doing here is very damaging to our state and our state agencies.”
Eleven of JFAC’s 20 members voted for a motion to remove the $2.5 million grant. But because only five of the committee’s 10 House members supported the cut, the motion was deemed unsuccessful.
Cook and Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, loudly objected, saying JFAC is applying its internal voting rules inconsistently. Rep. Wendy Horman, JFAC’s House co-chair, loudly gaveled down Woodward, putting the committee at ease. As lawmakers left the room for a sidebar, House Speaker Mike Moyle and Cook held a heated discussion in the committee room.
After that, the committee came back into session to vote again — also to no avail.
A second budget, including the $2.5 million grant, also received support from 11 JFAC members. But because the House again split on a 5-5 vote, this motion failed as well.
JFAC approves community college budget increase
Before breaking down over the libraries budget, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee had an easier time with the community colleges’ budget.
The committee approved nearly $1.7 million in new money to help the two-year schools handle enrollment growth.
The College of Southern Idaho would receive $690,000, the College of Eastern Idaho would receive $496,8000, and the College of Western Idaho would receive $493,000.
The money comes from a complicated funding formula, enrollment workload adjustment, which is based on a rolling enrollment average.
North Idaho College would have faced a funding cut under the formula, based on several years of enrollment declines. Citing the embattled college’s progress in fending off threats to its accreditation, JFAC has proposed keeping NIC’s budget whole. “We wanted to make sure they were not penalized by that formula this year,” said Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian.
The community colleges’ “enhancement” budget bill now must pass the House and Senate.
House passes ban on teaching sexual orientation, gender identity
The House passed a bill to ban instruction in sexual orientation and gender identity, from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, said his House Bill 352 would align Idaho with President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in January asserting that there are only two sexes.
During brief House debate, Rep. Lori McCann asked how a high school history or English teacher would be expected respond to a question about sexual orientation or gender. “I don’t understand why we are putting all these handcuffs on our teachers, who need to talk to their students,” said McCann, R-Lewiston.
Hawkins responded during his closing debate. “I’m of the opinion that we need to have some handcuffs on educators, because our children aren’t theirs.”
The bill passed on a 58-11 vote, with McCann and Rep. Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome, joining Democrats in opposition. The bill now goes to the Senate.
More money for literacy coaching — and possible reading test changes
A $5 million-a-year literacy coaching program cleared a key House hurdle.
Meanwhile, the same House committee introduced a second literacy bill — one that would allow school districts and charter schools to dump the state’s reading test.
Here’s how the House Education Committee voted on the two early literacy bills on Friday’s agenda:
Literacy coaching
Educators took turns praising the SMART Program — a coaching and mentoring program that focuses on phonics.
The entire teaching staff at Idaho Falls’ Temple View Elementary School has taken the program, as have most teachers at Ethel Boyes Elementary School. In February, 81% of Temple View’s kindergarten through third-grade students tested at grade level, and Ethel Boyes hit 94%. “It is making a difference in an area that is very difficult to improve,” Idaho Falls School District Superintendent Karla LaOrange told the committee.
SMART — which stands for Striving to Meet Achievement in Reading Together — has been in Idaho since 2021. Teachers take the two-year program on an opt-in basis, and the state says it is seeing results. “Year over year, we’ve seen the growth,” said Meghan Wonderlich, the Idaho Department of Education’s content and curriculum director.
Senate Bill 1069 would take the SMART program statewide, available to all teachers and administrators over three years. The annual cost would be $5 million.
The pricetag caused some pushback Friday.
Since 2017, the cost of Idaho’s literacy program has gone from $9.1 million to $72.8 million. Reading scores statewide have remained stagnant, said Samuel Lair of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a hardline group opposing the bill. “What outcomes have we seen from the investment we’ve already made?”
Rep. Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston, asked if the state could siphon off the $5 million from the existing literacy budget. Wonderlich noted that more than 90% of the current literacy budget goes into personnel — into teachers that would be trained by the coaches the state hopes to hire.
The committee ultimately voted 11-3 to send the bill to the House floor, over opposition from Harris and Reps. Kent Marmon, R-Caldwell, and Steve Tanner, R-Nampa. If the House passes the bill, it goes to Gov. Brad Little’s desk.
New reading tests?
The new, second literacy bill contains four pieces — including interventions that would assign literacy experts to the state’s lowest-performing schools, at a cost of $100,000 per year per school.
But some committee members focused on one part of the plan, which would allow districts and charters to choose their own reading tests, starting in 2027-28. Since 1999, schools have used some form of the Idaho Reading Indicator, a diagnostic test designed to identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses.
“We’re not going to have a consistent comparative around the state?” asked Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls.
Clow challenged sponsors’ claims that the move could save schools money since they could eliminate double testing — administering the state-mandated IRI and an exam of local officials’ choosing.
Many questions went unanswered Friday morning.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, was not present for the hearing. Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, addressed the committee in her stead — and repeatedly deferred to Horman on details.
“I’m doing my darnedest to do a good job … of pinch-hitting,” Ehardt said in response to one of Clow’s questions.
Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, honed in on the interventions, and whether experts would automatically receive $100,000 per year per school, without bidding for the contract.
Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, moved to put off a vote until Horman could come in and explain her bill. That motion failed. The committee then voted on party lines to introduce the bill, which could set the stage for a full hearing at a later date.
House passes bill requiring schools to post learning materials online
The House passed a bill requiring schools to post information on learning materials online.
House Bill 351 would require a list that includes “identifying information for all learning materials, including the titles of required textbooks.” The list would appear on a school district or charter school website.
Sponsors tout HB 351 as a parental rights bill. “This is needed and overdue,” said Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood.
During a short floor debate, Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, said the bill was vaguely written, and might require schools to post entire textbooks online. Hawkins said the bill makes no such requirement.
With Friday’s 56-13 vote, the bill now goes to the Senate.
New cursive guidelines head to the governor
The House easily passed a bill to enhance cursive instruction.
Idaho already requires elementary schools to teach cursive handwriting. Senate Bill 1044 would add a proficiency test by fifth grade.
The House passed the bill, 58-10. It now goes to Gov. Brad Little.
