PRIVATE SCHOOLS: No more public funds

Last year you likely saw hundreds of headlines about Idaho’s lawmakers and debates about education policies. If you’re like me and don’t have school-aged children, you may have thought that education funding, school choice or vouchers were topics you did not need to worry about. Let’s talk about why that’s not the case.

A significant amount of your taxpayer dollars go toward Idaho’s schools–regardless of whether you have children or not. Schools are public spaces that often act as community gathering hubs, polling places, public parks, and sustain our communities by helping train our next generation of big thinkers, business owners and employees.

That’s why I’m troubled by the direction our state is taking when it comes to education spending. Idaho’s new voucher law sends taxpayer dollars to private schools with zero oversight. No requirements for teacher credentials, background checks, curriculum standards, even fiscal transparency. And while I have no qualms about the quality of our private schools, I certainly take umbrage using my tax dollars without any accountability, oversight, or equal access.

It’s one thing to support a family’s right to choose private education. But expecting the rest of us to pay for it while our public school funding isn’t keeping up is irresponsible.

When public schools suffer, entire communities feel the effects. We see it in workforce readiness, property values, and community cohesion. That’s not just a schools issue. That’s an Idaho issue.

If you’re concerned like I am, please sign the Not a Dollar More petition (https://tinyurl.com/ymnwjv28). Speak up for responsible budgeting and protect the schools that serve all of us.

TOM SANNER

Coeur d'Alene