Senate recesses ‘til 1:30, five of seven public school budget bills have passed
The Senate has recessed until 1:30, after watching a musical slide show from its pages about their experience at the Statehouse. Before that, five of the seven bills that make up the public schools budget had passed easily, four of them on unanimous 34-0 votes, and one, HB 638, for the teachers division, on a 29-5 vote. Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, a retired teacher, said a 1 percent base salary increase for teachers wasn't enough, but she'd back the bill as a start. Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, voted against the bill, saying he objected to funding to train teachers on implementing the new Idaho core standards.