Bill Description: House Bill 298 would establish high school graduation requirements in code. 

Rating: +3

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

Currently, graduation requirements are determined by an internal rule promulgated by the state board of education. House Bill 298 would establish these requirements in statute, thus restoring Idaho’s constitutional system of government to its proper balance. 

Article IX, Section 1 of the Idaho constitution declares it “the duty of the Legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” This article grants the Legislature supreme authority over the state’s system of public education. Section 2 of Article IX establishes the state board of education (SBE) as a governing body tasked with the “general supervision of the state educational institutions and public school system of the state of Idaho.” Notably, Section 2 dictates that the “membership, powers and duties” of the SBE “shall be prescribed by law,” thus establishing the SBE as subordinate to the Legislature.

In practice, the SBE in conjunction with the state department of education (SDE) pursues a self-directed course, largely free of legislative control. Claiming “expertise,” it has unjustly usurped prerogatives that rightly belong to the Legislature, including the power to determine graduation requirements. Because the Legislature is given the primary responsibility over the state’s public education system, any and all legislative questions of broad significance should be answered by the Legislature. Therefore, House Bill 298 helps restore the principle of separation of powers by limiting the Legislature’s scope of delegation to the education bureaucracy to determine education policy.

(+1)

Does it promote the breakdown of the traditional family or the deconstruction of societal norms? Examples include promoting or incentivizing degeneracy, violating parental rights, and compromising the innocence of children. Conversely, does it protect or uphold the structure, tenets, and traditional values of Western society?

House Bill 298 promotes traditional Western values by replacing the mandatory world history course with the “history of Western civilization” in the graduation requirements. Among the most troubling national developments regarding education is the ed establishment’s concerted effort to promote the idea of global citizenship. This necessary change in the graduation requirements will help preempt that effort and ensure that Idaho’s youth understand their cultural, political, and intellectual heritage.

(+1)

Does it expand the government's bureaucratic monopoly on education, reduce family and student choice, or finance education based on an institution or system? Conversely, does it reduce government coercion in education, expand education choice, or finance education based on the student rather than the institution?

House Bill 298 would significantly weaken the authority of the education bureaucracy by eliminating their discretion over graduation requirements.

(+1)