Children spend more than 1,000 hours in school each year throughout their entire K-12 education, according to EducationWeek. With children spending so much of their time in the education system, why do lawmakers feel like funding should be cut?
EdWeek ranked Idaho no. 17 for student achievement among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a number that has increased from 31st in the nation when the survey was conducted in 2015. Spending on education has been correlated with an increase in the quality of education.
From 2023-2025, the education budget in Idaho increased from $8,750 per student to $9,387. This is a significant increase in budget despite Idaho continuing to be the state with the smallest education budget.
Despite this, education budget cuts are still being proposed. In a recent memo between co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriation Committee, Sen. C. Scott Grow and Rep. Josh Tanner recommended that 1% or 2% of the budget be cut from the current education portion of the budget.
These suggestions came after Gov. Brad Little made an executive order which exempted public schools from further education cuts.
The Idaho State Constitution requires that the budget remains balanced or in surplus to ensure a fallback plan, which is sometimes referred to as the “rainy day reserve funds.”
With K-12 education being generally protected, many of the suggested cuts would affect higher education. According to the Idaho Capital Sun, Idaho universities were asked last week to submit a list of potential cuts and how they would affect the universities.
The University of Idaho told the Idaho Capital Sun, “These impacts represent long-term capacity losses that cannot be quickly restored and would materially affect Idaho’s workforce, industries and communities.”
When lawmakers decide to make cuts to education, it is likely to have detrimental effects on the job force permanently.
An argument in support of education cuts may suggest that this is the only way to ensure that the budget remains balanced, but there are other options. Idaho has continued to deliver tax cuts such as the Parental Choice Tax Credit Program – coincidentally providing tax cuts to parents who enroll their students in private schools – despite the continued negative effects and ensuing scramble to balance the budget.
Whether you like it or not, taxes are essential to ensure that Idaho remains successful financially, and tax cuts create an unnecessary burden on the state budget which ultimately affects the education system.
Dominic Dorigo can be reached at [email protected].