Tom Luna, superintendent of public instruction, has proposed a budget increase for public schools of $64 million for the next fiscal year, but there are a lot of "ifs" in it due to the trio of referendums to be decided in November, according to a story in the Idaho Statesman.

For examples, pay for teachers would go up by 5 percent with some of that coming from merit bonuses that might not exist after the referendum vote, laptops for students would be eliminated depending on how the referendum votes go Nov. 6 and a raise for some classified staff would be dropped.

Luna's budget is submitted to the governor for his consideration in making a recommendation to the Legislature, but the schools chief says he recognizes the budget is tentative at this point since it could change dramatically after the November referendum votes.