Jessie Bonner reports lawmakers in the Idaho House advanced legislation Wednesday that would lift the state’s cap on charter schools while also allowing more than one to open within the boundaries of a traditional school district each year.

The House Education Committee voted 12-5 to support the measure amid opposition from the statewide teachers union, the Idaho School Boards Association and the Idaho Association of School Administrators.

Supporters of the bill say Idaho’s law on public charter schools is outdated and harming Idaho efforts to secure federal grant money for the state. They also point to a charter school waiting list that includes some 7,000 students.

But critics say Idaho’s scarce public education dollars are already stretched thin and now is not the time to expand the system with more charter schools. Idaho now limits the number of new charter schools to six per year.