Bill Description: Senate Bill 1025 expands the Empowering Parents Grant to $5,000, allows it to be used on tuition and fees at participating schools until July 1, 2030, allows it to be used on child care for children ages 3 and older; will eliminate reporting requirements for public and charter schools not required by the federal government; and provide for a continual appropriation of $30 million in special education funding.
Rating: -5
Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?
Senate Bill 1025 greatly expands government control over participating nonpublic schools, such as:
These requirements impose our failing public education system’s model of “accountability” on private schools. They would be disastrous for nonpublic education and endanger the freedom of private schools to determine their own policies. Though nonpublic schools could choose not to participate in the program, they would be forced to either comply with these stipulations or be forced into unfair competition with those that do.
Particularly troubling is the requirement that private schools must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the state board of education. This allows the state board of education to exercise even more control over nonpublic schools through its discretionary power to recognize some accrediting bodies and not others.
(-1)
Senate Bill 1025 expands the Empowering Parents Grant to include pre-kindergarten programs for children at least three years of age. This would significantly expand the scope of government by providing public funding for childcare. While public funding for education is a constitutional function of government, childcare, in contrast, is the individual responsibility of parents, not the state.
(-1)
Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?
Senate Bill 1025 provides for a $30,000,000 continual appropriation to fund special education programs.
(0)
Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public access to information related to government activity or increase government transparency, accountability, or election integrity?
In addition to expanding the Empowering Parents Grant, Senate Bill 1025 creates the Idaho Education Red Tape Reduction Program, which would require the state Department of Education to identify “all reporting currently required by the state of Idaho and federal government for public schools and charter schools.” In turn, the program also provides that the state of Idaho will no longer require public and charter schools to satisfy reporting requirements that exceed those required by the federal government, unless 1) they are for a new program and are a “necessary component for assessing outcomes” and 2) they include “a sunset date of no more than three years for the report.”
Federal reporting requirements are often less stringent than state reporting requirements. By largely prohibiting any additional requirements beyond the floor established by the federal government, this program could reduce government transparency in our public education system.
Conversely, the bill would help reveal the inefficiencies and administrative bloat present in our public education system.
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Does it increase government redistribution of wealth? Examples include the use of tax policy or other incentives to reward specific interest groups, businesses, politicians, or government employees with special favors or perks; transfer payments; and hiring additional government employees. Conversely, does it decrease government redistribution of wealth?
Senate Bill 1025 is structured to prioritize “the neediest families.” It reserves 75 percent of the awards for households whose adjusted gross income is below $60,000, 20 percent for households whose adjusted gross income is between $60,000 and $80,000, and 5 percent for households whose adjusted gross income is over $80,000. These stipulations will result in tax dollars being taken from some families to fund school choice for those less well-off. The grants given to roughly 500 token families making over $80,000 does little to change that. For a school choice program to be truly considered “universal” it must provide equal access to all families regardless of income.
(-1)
Does it violate the principles of federalism by increasing federal authority, yielding to federal blandishments, or incorporating changeable federal laws into Idaho statutes or rules? Examples include citing federal code without noting as it is written on a certain date, using state resources to enforce federal law, and refusing to support and uphold the tenth amendment. conversely, does it restore or uphold the principles of federalism?
Senate Bill 1025 will largely eliminate all reporting requirements for public and charter schools that go beyond the standards of the federal government. This establishes a dangerous precedent of deferring to the federal government on how Idaho should administer its public education system. Education policy is not included in the enumerated powers of the federal Constitution, meaning that it is a prerogative reserved to the states by the 10th amendment. Therefore, deference to the federal government on any matter of education policy undermines Idaho’s state sovereignty.
(-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?
Senate Bill 1025 imposes “a cap of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) per household, regardless of the number of eligible students in the family.” This anti-natalist provision unjustly discriminates against large families and is antithetical to America’s traditional values.
(-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?
Senate Bill 1025 expands the Empowering Parents Grants to provide $5,000 to families for use on tuition and fees paid toward participating nonpublic schools. In doing so, it expands educational opportunities for up to roughly 10,000 students.
However, Senate Bill 1025 also includes a sunset provision on the applicability of the grant to tuition and fees that takes effect July 1, 2030, thus limiting the long term viability of the program as a vehicle for meaningful school choice legislation.
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