JFAC restores school field trip funding

In JFAC this morning, Rep. Cliff Bayer, R-Boise, moved to fund busing for school field trips and other transportation changes from Senate amendments to HB 256a by taking the money, $4.2 million, from textbook funds. “We can bridge a year with a more modest budget” for textbooks, Bayer said. He spoke against dipping into funding for classroom supplies for half the amount, as some committee members had proposed. Rep. Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, seconded Bayer’s motion. Said Bayer, “The classroom supplies are consumables, and we’ve already trimmed classroom supplies.” His motion makes no further cut in classroom supplies. Funding for textbooks for next year already had been trimmed by 40 percent. State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna, asked to comment, told JFAC, “I think this is a wise move if we’re going to have to trim, to trim textbooks, and hopefully next year … we’ll be able to restore the money the state’s been sending districts for textbooks.” The move cuts textbook funding for schools for next year to just $1.7 million statewide, compared to the usual $9 million.

Rep. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, made a substitute motion to take $2.1 million each from textbooks and from classroom supplies. “I just felt like it was a better balance to do part classroom supplies, than to take it all out of textbooks,” Patrick said. “I don’t feel comfortable taking it all out of textbooks.” JFAC Co-Chair Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, said, “I certainly understand where he’s coming from. The issue we have here is the classroom supplies have traditionally come out of the teachers’ pockets. That’s the road we’ve tried not to go down any longer.” She added, “This is a tough pill to swallow,” saying classrooms shouldn’t be left with out-of-date or inadequate textbooks. But she said she favored Bayer’s motion because teachers already have taken a hit in the school budget for next year, and shouldn’t take another “hit to their pocketbooks.” Said Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, “They’re tough decisions, decisions none of us would prefer to make.”

Patrick’s substitute motion failed on a 3-15 vote; Bayer’s then passed on an 18-0 vote.