The Idaho State Board of Education will receive an update at its meeting this week on education-related legislation from the 2019 Idaho legislative session.
The Board meets at the University of Idaho in Moscow April 17-18 at the Bruce M. Pitman Center.
Board Supported Legislation:
• HCR 6, Music in our Schools Month – Passed both chambers
• HB 153, Career Ladder, increases career ladder amounts for the
residency rung – Signed by the Governor on 3/21/19
• SB 1029, School Turnaround Act, codifies existing pilot program for
low performing schools managed by the Board office – Passed the Senate,
failed in the full House
• SB 1057, Continuous Improvement Plans, removes requirement to
report grade band performance and improvement indicators in school
district and charter school continuous improvement plans and requires the
plans to link to the new school district report cards – Signed by the Governor on 4/02/19
• SB 1059, Mastery-based Education Network Expansion – Signed by the Governor on 3/22/19
• HB 185, Rural Educator Loan Repayment Program – Did not receive a hearing.
• HB 218, Rural Teacher Incentive Program, State Superintendent
teacher pipeline imitative – Did not receive a hearing
Board Opposed Legislation:
• SB 1058, Charter School Administrator Certificate – Signed by the Governor on 3/21/19
HB 293, on public school funding review and reporting. Lawmakers did not pass any changes to the state’s public school funding formula, but did pass this bill setting definitions and requiring school districts to report on enrollment and finances.
SB 1106, on career technical education, requires the Division of Career Technical Education to identify the CTE programs which can be delivered online program or a
hybrid of in-person and on-line education.
SB 1193 is the appropriation to the State Board of Education for special programs, which includes the scholarships and grants program. The $7 million for the Opportunity Scholarship Fund is in this bill.
HB 222 is FY ’20 appropriation for public school funding for the Division of Children’s
Programs of the Public Schools Education Support Program; this appropriation
moves $3,156,500 from the Opportunity Scholarship Program Account to be used
for K-3 Literacy.
HB 281 is an appropriation bill that moves funds between various
state accounts, including a transfer of $3,400,000 from the Opportunity Scholarship Program Account to the Public Education Stabilization Fund to address year-end shortfall in the public schools appropriation due to continued enrollment growth and participation in the Advanced Opportunities Program.
