Testimony begins at school funding hearing…

The first to testify at this morning’s public hearing on school funding is former state Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise. “As an educator and as a parent of four children,” he said, “I care deeply about my children’s education. … We have to be competitive as a state, and as a state we need to attract the best and brightest teachers.”

Second up was Julie Dillehay of Meridian, a high school counselor. She said she’s concerned about the proposal to increase class sizes. “It means we will lose millions of dollars in funding,” she said. At her school, Vallivue High School, there already have been classes with 45 students in them. “What you’re seeing here is what we’re seeing in our classrooms this fall,” she said. The proposal to raise the student-teacher ratio will cost her school district about $1 million, she said. “They would either have to raise levies, or we would have less teachers. That would have a domino effect.” She said her high school could lose its accreditation as a result.