Some Idaho legislators want to give your tax dollars to private and religious schools. That is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad idea.
Article IX of the Idaho Constitution strictly forbids spending public funds on religious schools:
SECTARIAN APPROPRIATIONS PROHIBITED. Neither the legislature nor any county, city, town, township, school district, or other public corporation, shall ever make any appropriation, or pay from any public fund or moneys whatever, anything . . .to help support or sustain any school, academy, seminary, college, university or other literary or scientific institution, controlled by any church, sectarian or religious denomination whatsoever;” The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states that fund private schools cannot discriminate against religious schools. Once we start funding private schools, we must fund religious schools. That is a clear violation of the Idaho constitution.
It is unfair. House Bill 93 and Senate Bill 1025 and similar so-called “school choice” bills would require us to pay for two parallel education systems. But private schools would not be held to the same standards as public schools and would not be accountable to taxpayers.
It is unsustainable. An estimated 30,000 K-12 students are enrolled in private schools in Idaho. The proposed $5,000 per child tax credit would cost taxpayers $150 million a year. The initial $50 million proposed budget would balloon exponentially.
A recent survey by Boise State University found over 53% of Idahoan oppose using public funds for private and religious schools. If more than half of Idaho citizens know this is a bad idea, who is pushing these schemes?
Unconstitutional. Unfair. Unsustainable. Let your state legislators know that you don’t want your tax dollars going to private and religious schools. Contact Governor Little’s office and ask him to veto any of these terrible, horrible no-good, very bad bills that reach his desk.
