Ryan Suppe

Spokespeople for Gov. Brad Little and state superintendent Debbie Critchfield say there’s a difference between promoting political ideologies in the classroom and promoting “extracurricular” and “student-led” political activities outside the classroom.

But you might have to squint to see where the line is drawn.

Little and Critchfield’s offices defended the Republicans — both running for reelection this year — after they caught flak for promoting “Club America,” Turning Point USA’s campaign to equip and educate conservative activists in high schools.

Brad Little on Friday signed into law several of this legislative session’s most contentious education bills, including new restrictions on teachers’ unions along with budget cuts to virtual education.

He also signed a far-reaching civics bill and new rules requiring public school employees to out transgender students to their parents.

A bill that would give city councils authority to hire and fire directors of city-owned libraries easily cleared the Senate. 

Currently, library boards oversee the hiring and firing of library directors. House Bill 715 would require city council approval for these decisions. 

“Cities with their own libraries are forced to rely solely on an unelected board of trustees to hire and fire the library director,” said sponsoring Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene. “This bill restores accountability by giving the elected city council a direct voice in these personnel decisions.”

Senators Thursday passed 5% budget cuts to colleges and universities next fiscal year, after a debate that revolved around whether the state should fund higher education at all. 

House Bill 876 is the fiscal year 2027  “maintenance” budget for the Idaho State Board of Education and includes funding for two- and four-year colleges and universities. The budget rolls over base spending from the current fiscal year.

The House Education Committee deadlocked Wednesday on a bill punishing student walkouts, effectively killing it for this legislative session. 

House Bill 794 would have required that public schools count protest walkouts as unexcused absences. A motion to advance the bill failed on a 7-7 tie, amid concerns that the bill would infringe on free speech rights and parents’ right to excuse their children from school.

The House State Affairs Committee introduced a replacement bill that would update the state’s “harmful materials” library law. 

The previous version would have prohibited stores from selling material that’s harmful to minors “or” sexually explicit. The new bill would prohibit stores from selling material that’s harmful to minors “and” sexually explicit. 

For the second consecutive year, House Republicans passed a bill that would prohibit school districts from deducting union dues from payroll systems and from offering employees paid leave for union activities, among other restrictions. 

The House Education Committee Wednesday introduced a bill that would direct the state to publicize data on the immigration status of students attending K-12 public schools and public colleges and universities. 

Rep. Steve Tanner said his bill would allow the Legislature to estimate the costs to educate undocumented immigrants. “It does not seek, nor does it ask for, personal identifying information of any students,” said Tanner, R-Nampa. “(It’s) aggregate data only.”

Another round of budget cuts would force immediate staff cuts and furloughs across Idaho campuses, college and university officials said Friday.

The cuts would lead to larger classes and reduced student support.

And cuts could affect some of higher education’s highest-profile programs. The University of Idaho would have to cut back its longstanding medical school partnership with the University of Washington, a training ground for Idaho doctors since the early 1970s. Boise State University said cuts could affect even its athletics programs — which is bankrolled largely by boosters and ticket and TV revenues.

State agency budget cuts could deepen to 5% for the current fiscal year and next fiscal year.

Leaders of the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) told agency directors Monday to make plans for additional across-the-board spending cuts at 1% and 2%, according to a memo obtained by Idaho Education News. 

These would be in addition to the 3% cuts that Gov. Brad Little made through an executive order last year.