Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the vote today by a subcommittee of the state Board of Education to approve a two-online-course requirement for high school graduation in Idaho, starting with next year's freshmen (the class of 2016). The move came despite overwhelming opposition at seven public hearings around the state; the full state board will consider it in a special meeting between now and Sept. 9, and if they approve it, it takes effect immediately, though lawmakers still could reject it in January.

Senate Education Committee Chairman John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, who served on the subcommittee, said the rule will "start Idaho students down the road to digital education," and "provide students with job skills that they're going to need when they enter the workforce, and with the skills to move forward in the post-secondary environment where more and more classes are being offered online."

He dismissed the negative testimony at the public hearings, saying, "I don't know the makeup of the people that testified. ... I was there for the Coeur d'Alene testimony, and without exception, every person that testified was either an educator or a former educator. And I think that is just consistent with their insistence that education reform is a bad thing."