Guest Column by Maxford Nelsen, Director of Research and Government Affairs, Freedom Foundation

Unlike some other functions of state government, Idaho’s constitution requires the legislature to “maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” It is not surprising, therefore, that roughly half of the state of Idaho’s budget — about $2.8 billion — is directed to funding public education.

Even in a year with some fiscal challenges, state policymakers are working to balance the budget without cutting education funding.

Given the importance of public education, it is imperative to ensure that appropriated funds make it to the classroom, and it is indefensible that any of those funds be diverted to special interest groups.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens.

As the Freedom Foundation has documented, dozens of teachers union-aligned school districts around the state use tax dollars to support the Idaho Education Association (IEA) and its far-left political and ideological agenda.

Among other things, school districts use public payroll systems to deduct millions of dollars in union dues from teachers’ wages. Some of the funds are then forwarded to the Washington, D.C.-based National Education Association (NEA), IEA’s parent affiliate, and used to fund the full array of progressive political advocacy. Just last fall, the NEA used members’ dues to help unseat a conservative member of the West Ada school board.

Additionally, dozens of districts provide teachers with special time off with full pay and benefits to engage in union advocacy — including lobbying the legislature — at taxpayers’ expense. This practice could cost taxpayers a half million dollars per year or more, the equivalent of about six teachers working full-time, year-round on union business.

Perhaps most concerning, at least two school districts — Boise and Twin Falls — even use tax dollars to cover the cost of teachers’ IEA/NEA dues.

Boise School District

Article XII(U) of the Boise School District’s negotiated agreement with the teachers union requires the district to pay each educator a “stipend” amounting to “1.132% of the average classroom teacher’s salary of the State of Idaho,” which approximates the cost of teachers’ union dues. Like teachers’ union dues, the stipend is paid in “monthly installments.” The purpose of the stipend, according to the contract, is for undefined “professional activities.” In practice, however, union organizers reportedly use the provision to claim to Boise educators that joining the IEA/NEA is free because dues are paid for by the district.

The district’s practice has long been controversial, with the Freedom Foundation confirming legislative debates about the practice as far back as 1995, when the legislature clarified that the state’s right-to-work law protected both private-sector and public employees against compelled union payments. The district’s union contract now includes a disclaimer noting that educators will receive the stipend even if they choose not to join the union.

According to public records obtained from the Boise School District by the Freedom Foundation, the district paid $93,725 for the “professional activities” stipend in December 2025 alone. Extrapolated over the course of the year, the total cost of the stipend would exceed $1.1 million.

While not every Boise educator uses the funds to cover the cost of IEA/NEA membership, it still represents a significant use of tax dollars by the district to incentivize membership in a private, far-left special interest group.

Twin Falls School District

While not as overt as what’s happening in Boise, the Twin Falls School District also appears to distribute a “professional development” stipend marketed as a way to offset the cost of union dues.

Article 10(G) of the district’s collective bargaining agreement with the Twin Falls Education Association, the IEA/NEA’s local affiliate, requires the district to pay educators a $250 “professional development stipend” each January. As a practical matter, however, the district not only fails to ensure the funds are used for professional development but specifically encourages teachers to use the payment to help offset the cost of joining the IEA.

For instance, in an email to Twin Falls teachers on Jan. 1, 2026, district administration wrote:

“Brace yourselves for a January jackpot – an extra $250 in your paycheck! It’s not any old payout, but a stipend to help cover recertification classes or your professional dues.”

(Emphasis added).

With around 450 teachers employed by the Twin Falls School District, the annual cost of the stipend would reach $112,500.

So what?

There’s nothing necessarily inappropriate about a school district helping educators cover the cost of the professional development they are legally required to undergo in order to retain their teaching certification.

Some school districts do just that, but in a way that ensures the funds are actually used for professional development. The Caldwell School District, for example, reimburses teachers up to $200 per year for continuing education costs if teachers provide the district with “official transcripts and proof of payment.” Similarly, the Kootenai School District maintains a “yearly stipend account of up to $500, non-accruing,” for each educator, from which they can be compensated for time spent on “Professional Development outside contracted hours, with prior approval.”

But by structuring their stipends as automatic, unrestricted cash payments and describing the purpose of the stipends as offsetting IEA/NEA membership dues, the Boise and Twin Falls School Districts are going out of their way to allow a private, far-left special interest group to leverage taxpayer dollars for membership recruitment. The practice is yet another example of why 2026 should be the year the Idaho legislature ends taxpayer support for teachers unions.