Effort to overhaul Idaho’s school funding formula begins; interim committee sought
An “informal working group” of lawmakers has been convened by House Speaker Scott Bedke and Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill to consider an overhaul to the state’s public school funding formula. The group doesn’t plan to propose legislation this year; instead, it will seek legislative approval for an interim committee and start planning the effort. According to a news release from the state Board of Education, the group is co-chaired by Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls.
Horman said, “The education landscape has changed, and our formula needs to be updated to fund new elements such as virtual education, the increasing mobility of our students, and the state’s move toward mastery-based education.” Winder said, “If we keep making amendments to the current public schools funding formula, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain a state funding formula that provides the predictability and equity our districts need to budget and educate students.”
The group also includes Senate Education Chairman Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls; House Education Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, R-Eagle; Sens. Steven Thayn, R-Emmett, and Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise; Rep. Julie VanOrden, R-Pingree; and Bedke. “It is anticipated that a member of the State Board of Education, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra and the Governor’s office will also participate,” the Board of Education news release said. “Staff support is being provided by the Office of the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education, the Legislative Services Office and the Division of Financial Management.”
Herre’s what the board’s news release says about the background for this effort:
“Since its enactment in 1994 (S1560), the current public school funding formula has been amended several times to accommodate the needs of Idaho’s public education system. In 2013, the Governor’s Task Force for Improving Education recommended a change to the public school funding formula from Average Daily Attendance (ADA) to Average Daily Enrollment/ Membership. The Task Force concluded this would ‘enhance fiscal stability and remove current barriers to personalized and/or mastery learning models that are required to meet the State Board’s 60 percent goal.’”
“Over the past two years, the State Board of Education convened a Public School Funding Subcommittees of the Task Force to work on this specific recommendation. The subcommittee concluded that the issue is more than funding based on attendance or enrollment, and the entire formula needs a thorough review. Subsequently, State Board staff met with the Governor’s office and legislative leadership to discuss next steps, leading to the informal working group.”
