In my 30-plus years of policy analysis and 10-plus years of public service, I’ve noticed one problem and its solution have stood out as the most frustratingly simple, yet near impossible to accomplish, at the same time.
The problem: Idaho’s public school system lacks the incentives for efficiency and excellence. Grown-ups know it, parents are frustrated, and children suffer.
The solution: Competition via school choice would reduce costs, improve opportunities, and reverse the failure spiral. Yet it never gets done.
Nero: Problem, what problem?
The Idaho Freedom Foundation has worked tirelessly since its inception to get the Legislature to do something, anything, to address a school system fraught with poor incentives, demonstrated by poor outcomes, and funded to the nines by a systems-are-more-important-than-kids set of legislators who think more money will get better results.
Legend has it that the emperor of Rome, Nero, ignored the devastation at hand by playing his fiddle while the city burned in a spectacular, tragic fire. His fiddling demonstrated a complete lack of empathy and concern for the people he presided over.
Is our Legislature playing Nero’s fiddle with regard to public education?
The IFF reported the following last January:
It's time for a reality check [on performance]. Take a look at two telling statistics in Idaho. First, reading and math proficiency for Idaho 8th graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were just 32% and 28%, in 2003. Nineteen years later, those same tests yielded just 32% and 32% proficiency — near zero progress. The raw numbers are startling. This dismal outcome reveals 15,983 third graders who cannot read at grade level, leaving only 7,521 who can.
Second, let’s consider the record on spending. Could it be that schools need more resources? Since 2003, K-12 education spending in Idaho has increased from $986 million to over $3.2 billion in 2022. We have TRIPLED state spending on schools and education, yet we have seen student performance go nowhere.
Even worse, while performance wanes and the suffering continues, schools sometimes do even worse. They divert resources and implement curricula or activities that are harmful to kids, offensive to parents, and violative of the mission of public education.
This past spring, the IFF learned Lewiston School District had some sketchy sex education curricula in five of its six elementary schools unbeknownst to the superintendent. The materials were very woke, to the point they didn’t even use the words: boy, girl, man, or woman. Instead, it merely said “bodies with male sex organs” and “bodies with female sex organs.” The material was sponsored by a feminine products corporate brand. Two parents brought the curriculum to the attention of IFF and to the attention of the superintendent. Upon learning about it, the superintendent reassured the parents and the IFF that the curriculum would not be used in the future.
Ford: No choice is a choice
Is the problem that public education is full of bad people, trying to do bad things? I don’t think so. The problem is the lack of incentives to make public education be efficient, responsive, and excellent. The funding is done by appropriation, by a third party (the Legislature), not directly affected by their decisions. The work is done by government employees who are not rewarded for excellence or efficiency. In fact, the worse the system does, the more the outcry for bigger budgets. Folks, it’s not a money problem.
Parents who are frustrated with their public schools aren’t met with much sympathy. Policy makers and administrators give responses similar to Henry Ford when he famously said, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants as long as it is black.”
Similarly, the Idaho education establishment and many in Idaho government say the same thing about education choice: “You can choose any school for your free (taxpayer-funded) education, as long as it’s a public school.”
Parents who press the issue further might be told, “If you don’t like it, then file a complaint, take your kids to private school (and pay double), or homeschool them (at your own expense).” No assistance is offered. Which brings us to school choice.
Surprisingly, despite the many failed attempts for real school choice in Idaho, Governor Brad Little has touted Idaho as already a leader in school choice. He claims that charter schools and other public schools are all the choice parents need. In 2023, when signing a bill to let parents send their kids to any public school, he said, “Idaho parents already benefit from an abundance of school choice options, and this new law expands their ability to choose the best public school for their child, regardless of their zip code.”
The Governor further claimed the presence of private schools, online academies, and homeschool options were examples of robust choice; all while completely ignoring the problem of families not being able to pay (double) for those other “choices.”
Friedman: A better path
Milton Friedman: “Given, as at present, that parents can send their children to government schools without special payment, very few can or will send them to other schools unless they too are subsidized. … Let the subsidy be made available to parents regardless where they send their children…”
In other words, let the money follow the child. Fund the child’s education, not the system. This simple solution will achieve amazing results.
You want a great burger tonight? Competition promises you many burger options, various prices, and all without government telling burger companies or you what to do. Education could use this as a model.
You want great education for your kid? Let competition guide schools and curriculum providers to the education options parents want most for their kids. It’s not rocket science — unless, of course, parents want rocket science for their kids. (I’ve seen science-focused private schools.)
The Idaho Freedom Foundation has been spearheading efforts to finally achieve what other states (Arizona, Iowa, Utah, etc.) have done, true and robust school choice — at no extra cost to families. We reported a few months ago how other states are expanding choice, while Idaho’s ranking in education freedom is dropping lower and lower. It’s past time to finally see some action by the Legislature.
The good news is there seems to be an upwelling of support and legislative interest in finally getting a good school choice bill passed this session. I’ve heard through back channels how legislative leadership has promised legislators real action on school choice bills this coming session. Let’s hope this momentum gets Idaho over the hump.
As I said at the beginning, it’s a serious problem with a simple solution, but the will to act has been lacking. Certainly, special interests (teacher unions, school boards, the education establishment) don’t want school choice. But after decades of lavish budgets, flat results, and frustrated parents and children, it’s time we followed best practices of school choice. Efficiency and excellence will follow. Children will thrive.
