The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has voted 19-1 to fund the literacy initiative in the public school budget at $9.1 million next year. Gov. Butch Otter had recommended $10.7 million, but Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, noted that the state already has $2.3 million in ongoing funds in the public school budget for Idaho  Reading Indicator remediation. “This is a significant investment,” she said. “When you add the amount we are already spending on IRI remediation at $2.3 million, this is an investment of $11.4 million in total this year for our children who are struggling readers.”

The funding is directed to HB 526, the early literacy bill that already has passed both the House and Senate. It requires that students in grades K-3 who score in the lowest category on the IRI in the fall, “below basic,” be given 60 hours of remediation; and those who score “basic,” which also is considered to be below grade level, given 30 hours. Local school districts would decide how best to provide that help; full-day kindergarten is among the options.

Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, cast the only “no” vote on the appropriation bill; she didn’t say why. Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, said, “I think this early education is going to save us in the long run. I think these kids are more likely to graduate from high school and go on to college and less likely to end up in our prisons, so this is a great investment.”

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