OPINION: The David vs. Goliath fight over state funding of religious education in Idaho

Jim Jones

by JIM JONES/Guest Opinion
| September 25, 2024 1:00 AM

Most Idahoans would agree with Thomas Jefferson’s observation that “the government closest to the people serves the people best.” In fact, that nugget of wisdom is right there on page two of Idaho’s present-day Republican Party Platform. Idaho schools have greatly benefited from governance by locally elected school boards. Those boards are knowledgeable about local educational issues and responsive to the needs of their school communities. Our local governance is now under attack by dark-money-funded know-it-alls who seemingly believe that Idahoans are incapable of educating their kids.

The Idaho School Boards Association will likely take a strong stance against forcing taxpayers to fund religious education at their annual meeting in November. Their Resolution 8 correctly states: “A voucher, tax credit, or scholarship program would irreparably harm our existing system of public school districts and charters, especially in rural Idaho, and would likely harm overall student achievement.”

Our school board trustees are acutely aware of the budget busting effects of so-called “school choice” programs in other states and of the fact that “about 91% of this year’s voucher recipients attend religious schools.” Most of the recipients already send their kids to private/religious schools, so these programs essentially provide a public subsidy to well-heeled families. Kids with disabilities are left out in the cold under these programs. On the other hand, a choice program would be a bonanza for those like Doug Wilson of Moscow, who wants to build a Christian nationalist school system in Idaho.

Trustees from rural school districts are particularly concerned about the impact of choice schemes on their communities. Public schools are the heart and soul of communities around the Gem State. School sports and other activities bring communities together, providing a common identity and sense of purpose. Folks in those small communities will travel across the state to watch their kids participate in public school activities of all sorts. That community spirit would disintegrate as schools are privatized.

School choice schemes would particularly impact those communities that don’t have church-supported schools. It is of interest that legislative candidates in the eastern part of the state who opposed subsidizing private/religious education fared better in the GOP primary election as compared to other parts of the state. School subsidy programs would definitely harm education in rural communities, as stated in Resolution 8.

But unelected out-of-state interests who are intent on privatizing education in the United States seem to think Idaho’s common-sense school trustees are just a bunch of country bumpkins. The head of one such group, the Mountain States Policy Center, recently penned an op-ed sneering at Idaho’s school trustees and Resolution 8. Before putting great store in the writer’s belittling words and dismissive attitude, it would be well for Idahoans to consider the pedigree of MSPC. Its parent organization is the extreme-right State Policy Network, which makes MSPC a sibling of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, another SPN offspring. We all know that the IFF has been trying to do away with the Idaho public school system for years.

MSPC is also a member of a political venture that Donald Trump has disavowed as too extreme. Yes, MSPC is a proud member of Project 2025, which advocates for eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and establishing universal school choice.

Make no mistake, MSPC, IFF and Dorothy Moon’s extremist branch of the GOP are doing everything possible to defeat opponents of voucher programs in the November election and elect those who will support the voucher gravy train. Together with billionaire-financed outside groups like the American Federation for Children and Young Americans for Liberty, they are supporting candidates like Codi Galloway in District 15 and Dan Foreman in District 6. Both are cheerleaders for the out-of-state efforts to privatize education in Idaho. Voucher opponents Julia Parker and Rick Just are facing an onslaught of vicious campaign tactics and false charges. However, they have truth on their side.

The battle between Idaho’s School trustees and the out-of-state billionaires is much akin to the struggle between David and Goliath. The only advantage is that David, Idaho’s school trustees, know the lay of the land and are genuinely committed to educating Idaho kids.

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Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho Attorney General and 12 years as a justice on the Idaho Supreme Court. He blogs at JJCommonTater.com.

LINKS:

Idaho School Boards Association:

https://www.idahoednews.org/top-news/school-trustees-legislative-proposals-call-for-more-state-funding-amid-budget-crunches/

Budget-busting effects:

https://www.epi.org/blog/state-and-local-experience-proves-school-vouchers-are-a-failed-policy-that-must-be-opposed-as-voucher-expansion-bills-gain-momentum-look-to-public-school-advocates-for-guidance/

About 91% of this year’s voucher recipients attend religious schools:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/06/03/tax-dollars-religious-schools/

Most of the recipients:

https://www.ncpecoalition.org/voucher-recipients#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20most%20recipients,the%20form%20of%20a%20voucher.

Left out in the cold:

https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2067&context=aulr

Christian nationalist school system: