Keep public schools fully funded

Published by admin on Tue, 02/04/2025 - 12:33pm

Guest column by Washington County Democratic Chair Linda Strain

I was born and raised in Weiser and have lived in Washington County nearly a lifetime. I graduated from WHS in 1973. My children were educated here and both graduated by 2001. They experienced schools that were fully funded prior to the downturn of school funding that began around 2003. Since then Idaho’s schools have seen less and less funding, not funded fully as the Idaho Constitution requires. This has left our school programs and facilities with deteriorating conditions, and students and teachers left behind to struggle. Idaho’s schools rank 50th in the U.S. for per student funding.  

 This message is for our District 9 legislators. Our schools are in most cases the largest employer within our communities and I do have those numbers.
 Weiser School District serves 1,465 students enrolled, of those 14 attend the district’s alternative school; there are 171 special needs students, and 42 attending from outside the district on the open enrollment program. Some students are from Annex, Ore., which pays the school district for students to attend. Weiser schools employ 260 total people: 102 certified, 99 classified and 60 part time (which includes bus drivers and substitute teachers), within our community. When asked what would be done with budget shortfalls? I was told that would prevent any enhancement of the schools existing programs. 
 The Midvale School District serves 149 students pre-K through 12 and employs 32 staff members which include bus drivers, custodians, teachers and admin from their community.
 Cambridge School District serves 150 full-time students and 7 students who are homeschooled that don’t regularly attend. The district employs 40 full-time staff from the community and some living in neighboring communities. What would be cut in that community if budgets are cut? Support and regular staff and in many cases grade levels would be combined. That affects productivity within the school and this was the answer I received from both Cambridge and Midvale. 
 These are all factual numbers I gathered from our school districts. Why would I include those factual numbers? Because these are our people, our rural communities, our children that WILL BE affected directly and indirectly by this voucher bill if it passes. It will affect our rural schools, yours and mine, in negative ways. There are no positive outcomes with any cuts in school funding. 
 Representative Shirts, you graduated from WHS, and you live in Weiser. You know firsthand how dedicated the schools are in these communities. How they make do with the budget on hand, whether or not the teachers’ many times pay out of their own pocket to have curriculum for their students. 
 If the voucher bill goes through the reimbursement of funds for private schools will not come to Washington County. The money will come from Washington County, YOUR county. The schools have to perform building maintenance on facilities and that will come from tax levies and bonds “depending on” your decisions on HB 93, the voucher bill. 
 People in our communities will lose their jobs or receive less wages depending on how you vote on HB 93. The effects of the voucher bill may not be evident in one year. It may take two or three or five years, but the impacts will be huge in our rural counties. But the voucher bill will never benefit our rural counties. That is a fact. Please, vote “NO” on HB 93.

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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