School districts, state legislators meet to discuss funding

Just weeks away from the Idaho State Legislative session, local legislators met with both Bonneville County school districts on Wednesday to discuss their priorities.Several legislators said their goal was to return education funding to 2009 levels.

“I think education should be our number on priority in the upcoming session of the legislature. We need to replace money that was lost in the recession,” said District 33 Rep. Linden Bateman (R).

“A priority is going to be what the Governor’s Task Force came up with, I think that will be the main topic as we work on the budget for the next year,” said District 30 Rep. Jeff Thompson (R).

The Governor’s Task Force for Improving Education came up with 20 recommendations. The first point is making student mastery the priority over seat time.

“The funding formula is all tied in with attendance, and that is tied in to seat time. We need to go through the steps to change the formula,” said District 33 Rep. Wendy Horman (R).

Another recommendation is technology in the classrooms. In Bonneville School District 93, nearly 500 students are enrolled in the online high school.

“Some kids learn better through technology, and we have to recognize that,” said Bateman.

Several people from both districts want to see the “Use it or Lose it” policy renewed. It allows districts to be flexible with salary funding.

“One of the reasons it’s key is we are talking about all of these different online options and technical career high school options, and in order to do those options you need flexibility with your salary,” said Horman.

“There is a lot of different hot buttons topics, if you will, getting back to the funding level we had in 2009, ” said Thompson.

The session begins Jan. 2014 in Boise.