Team up. Resist. Defend. Plan. Innovate. Build. –not necessarily in that order.

Wait, is there an acronym?

TURDPIB… TURPDIP TURPBID TUBIRPT TUBDRIP

Nope.

But, whatever. The way ahead for Idaho’s public education can’t just include a strategic defense. Any viable state of play requires a strong offense, too.

Making the most of the May 2026 primaries by joining with Reclaim Idaho, IEA PACE, and Save Our Schools Idaho is key. These groups are good on defense, and offense, too. But they could use stronger, shared goals that motivate those of us who want to jump in.

Although it takes them out of their traditional roles, advocacy organizations like the Idaho Education Association, Idaho School Boards Association, Idaho Rural Schools Association, Idaho Charter School Association, and public school district superintendents and boards around the state should link up and go on offense as a team. It’s time to amplify the strengths of public ed and go beyond that by organizing locally around innovative tailor-made educational opportunities for the students and families in our communities.

Idaho public education needs a solid vision for continuing to welcome and educate all students in our diverse communities–balanced with competition against the for-profit education market that’s developing. Whether we’re ready or not, we’re now competing for butts in seats, every day, in order to be funded. And the array of education and education-ish possibilities that families will cite in their applications for $5000 to $7,500 vouchers is still TBD.

Idaho Constitution, Article IX, says, “The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” Federal law expanded the idea of “common schools” so that students with special needs shall not be excluded. So, the writing is on the wall– in the immediate future, families will face new education marketing… and the more moneyed the organization, the more aggressive. Meanwhile, public schools will remain as ready as we can be (with fewer resources and less funding) to meet the needs of all who come to us. Private education has no such legal obligation. This is where Article IX’s “general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools” and our new voucher system are in real conflict. It looks like public education, in spite of Governor Little’s fanfare and teacher pay bump, could be on a path to ultimate insolvency…. And with us, goes our free speech/language and occupational therapy and SpEd services, background checks and fingerprinting for all employees, high standards, expertise, and best practices for teaching all students, too.

That’s the point.

So, what do we have to lose by combining forces, really reaching out locally, and defining some of the rules of this new game?

We need different thinking. Forever, it seems, public ed advocates have resisted comparing educating our children with running a business. The analogy falls down just as DOGE has. Those who presume public schools are full of waste, fraud and abuse and think new, private-sector education programs will do better, don’t understand the human project of education. Public education, like the military, tends to attract people who want to serve. Turning kids’ learning into a for-profit free-for-all opens all manner of doors for exploitation and corruption. But different thinking might mean we model ourselves after small, thriving, local businesses.

What’s the worst that could happen if school districts and the IEA decide to put aside other issues, work together, and reach out to their communities on innovative ways to reimagine local, competitive uniform and thorough public, free common schools? We have so much to work with. The Idaho State Content Standards and laws hold us to account–physical properties, structures and facilities–manpower, expertise and experience–locally engaged communities, cultures and business partners–athletics, music, arts, and career technical education–healthy meals–mental health, and sometimes medical and dental services…even state laws protecting release time for religious instruction. It will bring people together to put some combined effort into capitalizing on these strengths. TUBDRIP!