Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on new state schools Superintendent Sherri Ybarra’s first budget pitch to lawmakers for schools today, which was unusually brief and short on details. Ybarra said she “inherited” the budget from her predecessor, and would “absolutely” support the higher bottom line Gov. Butch Otter offered, a 7.4 percent increase, if lawmakers funded that rather than her 6.4 percent proposed boost.

Asked about Senate Tax Chairman Jeff Siddoway’s statements that beginning teacher pay in Idaho should be boosted to $40,000 next year, rather than over four, five or six years, Ybarra said if lawmakers allocated the money for that, “I would be out in the front just cheering that one right on.” Ybarra also confirmed that there’s no money in her budget proposal for reducing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, calling that a “wish list item.”

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