More Voices To Hash Out School Funds

One of the first things Anne Fox did after she was elected state superintendent of schools was dissolve the coalition that had hashed out the education budget proposal each year for more than a decade.

But now the coalition is back, though few would recognize it. Fox has created a new, expanded coalition that includes everyone from the Idaho Family Forum to the Idaho Migrant Council.

The new group has 28 members, counting two analysts from the governor’s and legislative budget offices.

Fox said her predecessor, former Superintendent Jerry Evans, used a very small group of people.

“I told the Legislature that I would not use that format,” she said. “I would use a format of getting input from many different organizations and people.”

Those now helping develop the budget request include three parents who are Fox supporters; two representatives from United We Stand America, the group first formed in support of Ross Perot’s presidential bid; Dennis Mansfield, head of the Idaho Family Forum; and representatives of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, the Boise Area Chamber of Commerce and the Idaho Taxpayers Association.

There are also three representatives of the Idaho Migrant Council; one from the Idaho Hispanic Commission; Rep. Ron Black, chairman of the House Education Committee; a banker from First Security Bank; and more.

The original players - the teachers’ union, PTA, school boards and administrators - are still there, too. They have nine seats.

Evans originally built the coalition because it looked bad to have him, teachers, administrators and school boards making different, and sometimes conflicting, pitches for the same money.

“To some extent we were arguing with each other in front of the Legislature,” he said. He joined the voices to “bring a certain power to the request.”

Will the extra voices mean more punch this year? The money will tell.

They love to hate it

It’s always been fashionable in Boise to hate the local newspaper, but things reached something of a fever pitch last week. The paper, the Idaho Statesman, caught Boise State University downplaying the criminal records of its athletes in a report to the state Board of Education. The way it chose to check up? The paper checked the criminal records of the entire football team, and ran the results right before the opening game of the season. There were a batch of unreported offenses, many involving alcohol. Boise’s a football town, so the stories caused an uproar. The paper even ran a story on how mad everyone was. Fans were in no mood to wonder about the character of the players - not just as they brought out the team colors for their tailgate parties.

, DataTimes MEMO: North-South Notes runs every other Sunday. To reach Betsy Z. Russell, call 336-2854 or fax to 336-0021.