Bill Description: House Bill 293 would create a system by which the members of the Idaho State Board of Education (SBOE) would be elected on a regional basis rather than appointed by the governor. The state board would be divided into seven zones and members would seek election by qualified electors within the zone they wish to represent. It would provide for partisan nominations and set the campaigning finance rate to be equal to statewide candidates.

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Does the bill reduce or eliminate layers of bureaucracy, allowing universities to be more flexible, improve feedback mechanisms, and decentralize decisions to the individual level? (+) Conversely, does the bill create or increase layers of bureaucracy? (-)

House Bill 293 would  make the members of the state board, which oversees Idaho’s K-12 public education system and public four-year institutions, elected rather than appointed. This would eliminate the continual appointment of bureaucrats and instead allow the public to elect an official based on whether they have fulfilled the public’s wishes and held educational institutions accountable for following their core missions. Allowing the public to vote on board members would decentralize decisions to the individual level and motivate members of the state board and universities to be responsive to feedback from the public.

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Does the bill increase transparency or accountability in public education institutions? (+) Conversely, does the bill decrease transparency and accountability in such institutions? (-)

The legislation increases transparency by making the board members who oversee the public educational institutions directly accountable to voters. For example, if there was an issue with something occurring on a public institution’s campus, the board would be incentivized to respond in a manner that reflects the will of the voting public.

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