Idaho Education News surveyed the four GOP candidates for state Superintendent of Public Instruction on whether they favor boosting annual payments to schools from the state’s permanent endowment fund; two of the four said yes. “Recent history shows that the reserve fund has been adequate and that some boost could be made to K-12,” said John Eynon, a music and drama teacher from Grangeville. Andy Grover, superintendent of schools in Melba, said, “While I do not support shrinking reserve funds to levels that would put distributions in jeopardy, I believe that we can both increase the distribution to public schools while protecting our reserve fund and future generations of beneficiaries.”

American Falls middle school principal Randy Jensen warned against a big boost followed by a big drop: “A steady source is better than a rapid increase in one year with a decrease in the following years,” he told Idaho EdNews. And Mountain Home school administrator Sherri Ybarra said, “With the fund balance, the board is required to maintain a focus on future students, as well as current students to provide equity in funding as well as to minimize the unpredictability in payments.” You can read the full report here from reporter Kevin Richert; he also surveyed candidates for other offices that include service on the Land Board about land transfers and commercial property investments.

At least three of the four GOP rivals will face off in a debate tonight on KIVI Channel 6 at 6 p.m., which also will be streamed live at idahoonyourside.com. The superintendent candidates also will meet in a statewide debate May 8 on Idaho Public Television; the winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Jana Jones in November.