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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

House panel stalls literacy bill over concerns from Rep. Mendive

A literacy proposal rooted in Gov. Butch Otter’s task force recommendations and backed by a wide range of education groups was sidetracked by the House Education Committee Friday amid concerns from Rep. Ron Mendive, R-Coeur d’Alene, Idaho EdNews reports.

HB 450 is designed as a companion to Otter’s $10.7 million literacy proposal. Based on reading assessment scores in kindergarten through third grade, the bill would provide supplemental literacy instruction for students who score below grade-level benchmarks on the Idaho Reading Indicator tests. Students who score at the lowest level on the three-point scale would receive an additional 60 hours of supplemental instruction during a school year, while students who score at the middle level would receive 30 additional hours of literacy instruction, writes EdNews reporter Clark Corbin.

School districts would be able to select the type of supplemental instruction they offer, including before-school, after-school or summer reading programs. Optional all-day kindergarten would be available for students who score at the lowest level on the IRI.

No one spoke against the bill, and it’s backed by groups ranging from the state Board of Education to Idaho Business for Education, but Mendive led efforts to table the bill until Feb. 18. Earlier in the week, the Coeur d’Alene lawmaker requested data from the State Board, breaking down student literacy scores at the school level. He said didn’t receive the data until Friday morning and didn’t have time to study more than 100 pages of documents before casting his vote.

A divided House Education Committee voted 7-6 to side with Mendive and hold the bill, though backers said the delay could endanger its chances of passing before the public school budget is set. You can read Corbin’s full report here.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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