Debbie Critchfield, Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction, has submitted the Annual Public Schools and Department of Education Budget Proposal—a budget just north of $3 billion. She submitted the proposal to the governor’s office on Aug. 29. The governor and others will now review it.
According to a news release from the Idaho Department of Education, the budget is to address “…the gap between the funding that public schools receive for special education and the actual costs of educating the state’s highest need students.”
“We want to structure the special education dollars around the places who have the greatest amount of special education students. And we want to send that out in block grants,” Critchfield told BYU-Idaho Radio.
These block grants will be designed to be distributed to schools based on the need of their students.
“It’s not an automatic distribution. We want the money to go to the places, that in ways that represent the amount of special education students. That’s very different than how we send out many of the other line items in the public schools’ budget. Most of the way we send it out is according to, ‘Here’s how many kids you have coming to school. Here’s your amount of money.’ We want to structure the special education dollars around the places who have the greatest amount of special education students,” Critchfield said.
Critchfield says that as inflation has risen, so has the cost for everything, including school supplies. She says an additional $50 million for special needs could help cover a gap in funding that has been growing larger over the years.
She told BYU-Idaho Radio that during listening sessions with parents, she learned they don’t blame teachers for shortfalls in education, but the lack of funding.
“And so as we see inflationary costs impact our school. Everyone pays more at the gas tank, including filling up our buses. Everybody pays more money for food, everyone pays more money for utilities. It’s no different for schools,” Critchfield said.
Critchfield says the money that would be put toward education is money that needs to be spent.
“This conversation about the funding gap represents monies that have already been spent. We’re not talking about creating a revenue stream where you get more money or additional money because you have [a] certain type of student. These costs have already gone out the door. This truly is coming back,” Critchfield said.
Critchfield says this budget is the result of what she’s heard to be the needs of the community.
“Prior to submitting a budget, I am talking to parents, to teachers, to local school leaders, I’m talking to other community leaders, policymakers, we’re listening to where they need that. And my job in advocating for the budget is to represent the need,” said Critchfield.
For more information about Critchfield’s budget proposals, find the full news release here.