Sen. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, is the first to speak against SB 1418, the public school budget, in this afternoon's Senate debate. "I do feel we had alternatives," she said. "I very much appreciate that there was a process used in creating this budget, I don't object to the process or the work that went into it. ... But I do in fact have grave concerns about the amount that was chosen, and that that was a product of math, and not necessarily a process that took into account our duty to do all we could for the kids and our public schools in Idaho." LeFavour said the budget will force schools to decide which children to deprive of services, whether it's those learning English, those who are gifted and talented, or others. "That to me is the real tragedy of this budget," she said. LeFavour said Democrats pushed for ways to capture additional revenue to fund schools without raising taxes, from delaying part of a grocery tax credit hike to hiring additional tax collectors. She said, "We have alternatives, and we could take those up - or we could settle for less."