SCHOOL CHOICE: Fund existing schools first

I am urging the Idaho House to vote NO to HB93. Idaho’s public schools are not fully funded; can we please fund our existing public schools first before considering vouchers or a tax credit?

As a mother of seven, I have come to deeply appreciate our teachers, staff, students and parents at the Lakeland Joint School District. In March 2023, after Lakeland’s first levy failure, I founded “Friends of Lakeland Schools” and along with countless other volunteers worked tirelessly campaigning for our desperately needed levy, which has not increased in amount asked since 2019 and is 25% of our district’s budget. It thankfully passed in May 2023. However, it failed again in the November 2024 election, after yet another depleting campaign.

With our FOURTH levy attempt (in two years) on the ballot for later this year, many of us in Rathdrum are feeling exhausted and demoralized, and asking if this method of funding our schools is sustainable. We cannot keep doing this; it is tearing our community apart.

These levy elections have made it clear that Idaho public schools are under funded, and property owners do not support our amazing schools. Despite this, lawmakers are considering another bill, HB93, that would drain funds from Idaho’s public schools that the state is not even adequately funding.

Please fund Idaho’s public schools FULLY before considering bills like HB93.

I am urging the Idaho House to vote NO on HB93.

SUZANNE GALLUS, President

Friends of Lakeland Schools, PAC