FUND: Invest it in education

Thanks to Bill Rutherford for his recent positive comments backed by research about the state of education in our area. His was a refreshing, solid article in support of our hardworking, committed, inspired teachers.

Good teachers are the most potent factor in assuring that children learn, but even good teachers eventually can’t overcome overwhelming obstacles put in front of them, like overcrowded classrooms full of children from poor families (Idaho has the largest total number of minimum wage workers in the country) and, an increasingly common reality among Idaho’s schools, a reduction in the number of days in the classroom!

Already 34 (yes, you read that accurately, 34!) Idaho school districts have moved to a four-day week. As Mr. Rutherford pointed out in his letter, the more days children spend in school, the more they learn. How can Idahoans justify underfunding education to the degree that school districts, in order to make ends meet, must cut the school week to four days?

Governor Otter’s recent article in the Coeur d’Alene Press boasted a sizable rainy day fund balance. Idaho ranks high in benefits like tax incentives to businesses relocating to Idaho. But what business with potential to bring well-paying jobs to Idaho will want to come here knowing that Idaho’s schools are in dismal shape? What well-paid executive with a family will want his children to attend Idaho’s struggling public schools?

Good quality education and good quality jobs go hand in hand. Idaho is in need of both. Governor Otter: It is still pouring rain on Idaho education. Use some of that rainy day fund to help needy school districts to AT LEAST hold school five days per week!

PAULA NEILS

Chair, Kootenai County Democrats