Bedke Talks Blunt When Otter Won’t

Ask Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, a straightforward question and you’ll get a straightforward answer. Case in point: What are the odds, a reporter recently asked Bedke, of the state following through on Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter’s pledge to boost school spending by more than $350 million? That figure — which includes restoring about $82.5 million in school operation cuts and then boosting teacher pay — stems from the governor’s own education improvement task force. Otter says it’s going to take time — maybe four or five years — but he’ll get it done. Or will he? …(So how did Bedke respond to a reporter’s question about the odds that school reform will proceed?)  Not much, he said/ Marty Trillhaase , Lewiston Tribune. More here .

Question: So Otter’s talk of hundreds of millions in increased school funding is just that — talk?