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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Press: Vote ‘yes’ on bond, levy

Spending more doesn’t guarantee getting more out of public education.

But without minimal funding, maximum results are nearly impossible.

Since the Great Recession, Idaho, like many other states, has failed to make K-12 ends meet. Consider the most current school funding research from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

• At least 31 states provided less state funding per student in the 2014 school year than in the 2008 school year. In at least 15 states, the cuts exceeded 10 percent.

• Idaho’s inflation-adjusted cuts amount to a drop of 16.9 percent in that span. Only Arizona (-23.3 percent) and Alabama (-21.4 percent) are worse.

While Idaho is finally making progress, thanks to the Legislature adopting key recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Education, our public schools still face an uphill battle. More here.



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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