Don’t blame the Boise School District. Place the blame squarely where it belongs — with the 2011 Legislature and Gov. Butch Otter. Because the state chose to finance public schools on the cheap, cutting K-12 budgets for the third consecutive year, the Boise district will have to grovel to voters. On Aug. 30, the district will ask voters to pass a property tax levy — aimed at keeping teachers on the job and preventing increases in class size. District officials don’t know exactly how much they’ll seek. They’ll figure that out in July, after they have a better sense of the state’s revenue picture/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

• Objection to conservative scorecard answered/Adam's Blog
• Happy birthday, fake Twitter person/Blush Response
• Fracking with carcinogens ... good? Bad?/Idaho Conservation League
• Rampant shenanigans at our schools continue/Idaho Conservative Blogger
• Mayor annoyed: Best politician you never heard of/Marc Johnson, Johnson Report
• Carlson: Who's Butch trying to kid?/Ridenbaugh Press

Question: Did any of you really think that there wouldn't be tax hikes to pay for public education when the 2011 Legislature and Gov. Butch Otter embraced Tom Luna's "reform" plan to fund education on the cheap?