State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna has released his recommendation to Gov. Butch Otter for spending federal stimulus money on education; you can read it here. Luna's conclusion is that Idaho still must cut education next year. Here's the lead-in to his executive summary:

"The State of Idaho will receive an estimated $351,473,200 for public education through the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Of that funding, approximately
$166,175,700 will be used to stabilize the K-12 public schools budget in fiscal years 2009, 2010
and 2011. Since the state estimates budget shortfalls of more than $200 million over the three
fiscal years, it is clear that the Idaho Legislature will still need to make reductions to the FY2010
public schools budget. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna has proposed 10 ideas for
how the Idaho Legislature can reduce the public schools budget by $62 million in FY2010 while
maintaining student-teacher contact hours and those programs that have the most immediate
impact on student achievement."

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