Scholarship ‘Passports’ Worth $3,000 Each Approved For 1,000 Adults

The state Board of Education has tentatively approved a plan to spend $3 million on educational “passports” for adults not prepared for modern work requirements.

The passports actually are 1,000 scholarships at approximately $3,000 apiece for adults who aren’t receiving educational services.

That’s part of a two-pronged approach to problems by the board’s new 70 Percent Committee. Chairman Thomas Dillon of Caldwell told Friday’s board meeting Idaho is 50th in the nation when it comes to serving underprivileged adults.

The educational passport proposal drew criticism from board member Curtis Eaton of Twin Falls and the university presidents. The $3.3 million the board agreed to budget for the proposal came from 1 percent cuts in the universities’ operations budgets and a reduction of one-half percent in enhancement budgets.