TWIN FALLS, Idaho — As parents and educators navigate the new educational landscape following the signing of a significant tax credit law, a community education panel event is scheduled for Wednesday night at Twin Falls. The law, signed by Gov. Little at the end of February, allows parents pursuing non-public education to claim a $5,000 tax credit per student.
"Understanding school vouchers in Idaho: Impacts, opportunities, and challenges," will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19 at the Herrett Center in Twin Falls.
Debbi Burr, a board member of Xavier Charter School with 14 years of experience, is one of the panelists. Burr questions the effectiveness of this new funding.
“We should be educating our children the best way for them, but we shouldn’t be throwing money at something when there is no guarantee that we’re going to have an educated product at the end of it,” Burr said.
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Both public and charter schools stand to face funding reductions if attendance drops. Public schools may ask voters to approve emergency levies, but Burr said charter schools have fewer means to raise additional funds.
“Charter schools may not do that, so they don’t have any additional sources of revenue except to like fundraisers like a nonprofit cause they organized as nonprofits,” Burr said.
The issue of government funding and oversight has raised concerns among homeschooling families. Stephanie Snarr, a mother who has home-schooled several of her children over the past 15 years, voiced apprehensions.
“Anytime we have government funding, we know that that comes with government oversight,” Snarr said. “And what home school families value the most is having the freedom without the oversight.”
Snarr will also be on the panel. She says that Idaho's home school families have a great degree of freedom from interference.
“That’s one of the things we love about Idaho, we have some of the best educational choice in the entire country," Snarr said. "And when we start making those choices, all funded by the government, then we’re taking away some of those choices — we don’t have those personal family choices anymore.”
This panel discussion marks the second in a series hosted by Idaho Solutions, which previously brought over 100 attendees to a February event focused on the state's history of citizen-led initiatives. Other speakers scheduled include Gooding School District Superintendent David Carson and Twin Falls School District Superintendent Brady Dickinson.
The Governor's office received tens of thousands of phone calls asking him to veto the legislation. Idaho News 6 has made several attempts to ask Little about his decision to sign the bill, but those attempts have gone unanswered.
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