Gov. Butch Otter is hinting that his top K-12 priority is restoring budgets to their pre-recession levels — and the Legislature’s two top budget-writers seem to like the idea as well. But Sen. Dean Cameron and Rep. Maxine Bell, co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, want more details about another big-ticket idea from Otter’s education task force: a teacher career ladder. The task force — 31 education stakeholders, business leaders and elected officials — finished vetting ideas Friday, and agreed on 21 recommendations. The next step is for Otter to sort through the ideas and their costs/Kevin Richert, The EDge/IdahoED News. More here.

Question: How important is it to Butch Otter's legacy as governor to restore funding for Idaho education to acceptable levels?