Save Our Schools to Host Town Hall meeting in Weiser on Tuesday, Oct. 14

WHAT:                  Following the passage of House Bill 93—which redirects $50 million in taxpayer dollars to private-school tuition—Save Our Schools Idaho launched a statewide Town Hall series to inform voters about the harms of this growing voucher program. Events bring together public school advocates, educators, and concerned citizens to discuss the risks of expanding voucher programs in Idaho. Events provide voters with facts about how similar efforts in other states have drained public school budgets, led to rising property taxes, and harmed student outcomes—especially for rural communities.

WHY:                     "There's been a lot of conversation and some confusion since lawmakers passed Idaho's first school voucher bill this session," said Joey Palmer, Assistant Superintendent of the Vallivue School District. "We want to give people a space to hear community members talk about how the bill will impact Idaho and ask their pressing questions about taxpayer subsidies for private schools."

Each event will feature education advocates, public school champions, and community members discussing how vouchers threaten public education, shift tax burdens, and undermine accountability.

                                "Public schools are the foundation of our society, and the heart of most rural communities in Idaho," said Stoney Winston, Fruitland School District Superintendent. "State spending on private education means less support for the schools that serve 94 percent of our students."

WHO:                    Save Our Schools Idaho is a network of public education champions committed to providing information, data, and education to the people of Idaho about vouchers and similar policies aimed at dismantling Idaho's public education system.