Education Funding and WBCSD Levy
In regards to the WBCSD levy, the legislature just approved the budgets for the year that starts this July 1, 2023. We approved teacher pay raises for EVERY teacher on the career ladder, and they will all receive a raise of $6,359 per year from state funding, bringing teacher pay to 10th in the nation out of 50 states.
We also approved $97.4 million more for classified staff salaries like bus drivers and janitors. That raises the pay from $24,841 to an average $38,802. In addition we appropriated $48 million to the schools for discretionary funding to cover increased transportation costs and inflation.
WBCSD already spends several thousand dollars more per student than LPOSD and has worse test results for math and reading proficiency.
The public schools are also getting $298 million in federal funding for children’s programs, one-time money, paid for by ARPA and CRRSA Covid funding by Fedgov.
The appropriation is called ESSER – Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding. The schools got and used a similar amount last year. These hundreds of millions are basically invisible in the year over year appropriation comparisons since they are “one-time” federal funding, yet it is indeed cash flow being funneled directly to the schools through the state public school funding process.
This year’s appropriation – ESSER II from CRRSA is $21,238,900 and ESSER III from ARPA is $277,005,700.
In addition, House Bill 292, our property tax relief bill will provide the following NEW money to the schools for 1) School bonds, 2) Supplemental School levies, 3) Reserve accounts and 4) new school facility bonds, in that order of priority:
FY 2023 (the year we are currently finishing by June 30, 2023): $65 million
FY 2024: $170 million
FY 2025: $216 million.
There are about 115 school districts that this money will be divided among.
Below is a summary of some of the new spending for public education, and these budgets begin July 1, 2023:
H222 – $ 1,000,000 Supplemental University of Idaho for Moscow murders
H336 – $ 37,188,400 Agricultural Research and Extension Service
H343 – $ 728,900 Charter School Commission
H353 – $ 45,800,500 for State Department of Education
H363 – $ 103,296,800 for Division of Career Technical Education, includes new $15 million for additional program support and 10.5 new FTE
H364 – $ 50,000,000 Trailer bill to H267 Division of Career Technical Education new funding for CTE starting in middle school and grades 7-12
S1043 – $ 50,000,000 New charter school revolving loan fund
S1136 – $ 6,222,800 STEM Action Center
S1160 – $ 61,710,500 Community Colleges
S1167 – $ 80,000,000 Idaho Launch grant program
S1176 – $ 678,550,500 Colleges and Universities
S1177 – $ 34,885,600 State dept of Education Special Programs
S1197 – $ 72,922,000 Higher Ed capital projects – Permanent Building Fund
S1202 – $ 96,376,200 – State Board of Education includes new $30 million for Empowering Parents grant program, $47.2 million Covid Relief funding (federal)
S1204 – $ 123,916,000 – Public Schools division of administrators (superintendents, principals, etc.)
S1205 – $ 1,338,906,000 Public Schools Teachers. New $2.9 million dyslexia training. New $6,359 per teacher salary increase total of $144,960,600
S1206 – $ 1,123,677,600 Public Schools Operations Division includes new $97.4 million to increase Classified staff salaries from average $24k to $38k. New $49 million for discretionary spending to cover increased transportation costs and inflation and whatever. New $27.9 million for health insurance to increase medical insurance for staff to state program. New $10 million for technology funding.
S1207 – $ 698,949,800 Public Schools Children’s Programs. Includes $298 million for learning loss ArPA and CRRSA Covid relief funding.$19.7 million Digital Learning Academy.
S1208 – $ 67,885,600 Public Schools facilities. Includes Lottery and Bond Levy Equalization.
S1209 – $ 14,237,600 Public Schools Central Services Division
S1210 – $ 15,629,400 Deaf and Blind
S1215 – $ 10,000,000 additional Advanced Opportunities Scholarships
In one of these bills is $20 million for hard security.
That is a Grand Total of $ 4,711,884,200. You read that right – $4.7 BILLION. $3.7 ish billion of which is K-12.
Related: What Everyone in WBCSD Needs to Know Before Voting on the Proposed Levy
