Betsy Russell reports Idaho schools would see a small funding boost on the heels of last year’s cuts, under a budget set by the Idaho Legislature’s joint budget committee Monday in a series of party-line votes.
Minority Democrats on the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee held out for an additional $8.4 million for teacher pay boosts and technology training, but were outvoted 16-4. The joint committee instead set a $1.28 billion budget that includes a 4.6 percent increase in state general funds. Total funds, at $1.57 billion, are up just 0.4 percent, as federal stimulus grants end.
The plan fully funds state schools Superintendent Tom Luna’s “Students Come First” reform plan, which includes a new merit-pay bonus program and phased-in technology boosts including laptop computers for every high school student and teacher. However, it doesn’t follow the plan’s requirement to cut teacher salary funds to pay for those new programs; instead it “backfills” the budget with additional money to make up the teacher salary cuts.
