Sherri Ybarra, Idaho state schools superintendent, told lawmakers this morning: “My main three goals for Idaho public education are: 1-All Idaho students persevere in life and are ready for college and careers. 2-All education stakeholders in Idaho are mutually responsible for accountability and student progress. 3-Idaho attracts and retains great teachers and leaders.”

To achieve those, she said, a big piece is “enabling district autonomy to increase operational funding.” She said restoring operational funding per classroom to school districts to pre-recession levels is key. “We all had to do way more with way less, and Idaho came through it without any debt, thanks to you folks,” she told legislative budget writers, “proving that Idaho is fiscally responsible.” When Gov. Butch Otter called for restoring operational funding this year, Ybarra said, “I can tell you that based on stakeholder feedback, this is a huge highlight when it was supported by the governor in his State of the State address.”

Ybarra’s budget request – like Otter’s – restores operational, or discretionary, funds per support unit (roughly per classroom) to 2009 levels: $25,696.

But, she said, “The comparable is not synonymous with sufficient.” Ybarra said, “If we’re going to hold school districts accountable for improving student performance, it’s essential” that districts can “allocate funds based on their local needs. Without the resources and the flexibility, districts are severely constrained in their ability to make necessary changes and improvements in programming and operations, especially staffing decisions.” That’s why she’s also requesting additional increases, she said.

“We’ve seen an increase of 20,000 students” since 2009, Ybarra told lawmakers. But there’s also been inflation and decrease in purchasing power. Schools, she said, “are excited to serve these additional 20,000 students, but it spreads them dangerously thin.”