Lakes Middle School seventh-grader Racheal Brisboy raises her hand during class on Monday. The Coeur d’Alene School District is asking voters to increase the local tax levy. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

At Lakes Magnet Middle School north of downtown Coeur d’Alene, a small room inside the main office is piled high with obsolete textbooks. A larger room one floor up is stacked with hundreds more, some more than 10 years old. New, relevant instructional materials that align to the latest educational standards and curricula are one of the priorities of a $15 million-a-year school levy the Coeur d’Alene School District has on the March 10 ballot. Another goal is to hire more teachers to reduce class sizes that swelled during the recession when Idaho slashed state funding for public schools. The school board set the two-year levy request at $15 million annually. It’s $2.1 million a year more than the levy expiring in June. School trustees said they want the additional funds to be spent on new instructional materials and more teachers/Scott Maben, SR. More here.

Question: Will you vote for this levy?