Board of Education stays neutral on new content standards

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho State Board of Education decided Thursday against taking a formal position on two legislative proposals intended to replace current K-12 content standards in English language arts, math and science.

“I believe the Board is in favor of the proposed standards,” State Board President Kurt Liebich said. “The problem is the Board doesn’t yet know whether the Legislature will provide funding to ensure that our student assessments are aligned to the new standards as required by federal law. When you factor in professional development and possible curriculum changes, we heard for the first time today that the implementation cost could be more than $50 million dollars if these proposals become law.”

House Bill 716 and House Current Resolution 39 were both approved today by the House Education Committee and are on their way to the full House for consideration.

“We had a robust discussion today and the prevailing concern voiced by the majority of Board members was that until we understand the overall impact and have a financial commitment from the Legislature to address it, the Board will stay neutral,” Liebich said. “It was a difficult and complex discussion but it was also one we had to have as the leaders overseeing public education in our state.”