Local school leaders respond to gov’s signing of ‘school choice’ H.B. 93

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 93 into law Feb. 27, providing $50 million of public money to support payments of between $5,000 and $7,500 toward tuition at private and religious schools in the state.

H.B. 93 went into effect immediately following the governor’s signature, after passing the Idaho House on a 42-28 vote and 20-15 in the Senate. Dist. 1 Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint voted against the bill, while Dist. 1B Rep. Cornel Rasor, R-Sagle, was in favor. Dist. 1 Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, also voted against the measure.

The welcome sign outside of Sandpoint High School. Photo by Ben Olson.

Former-Dist. 1 Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who serves on the Idaho State Board of Education, declined to comment to the Reader in her official capacity, though indicated that her personal thoughts on the legislation mirrored Sauter’s and Woodward’s, both of whom have published opinions on the bill in the Reader and Bonner County Daily Bee.

Opposition to the so-called school-choice bill was widespread and vocal. According to reports, Little’s office received 37,457 phone calls and emails in the runup to his signing of H.B. 93 — 32,366 of which urged the governor to veto the bill. The number of calls to Little’s office related to H.B. 93 was so high, reports from the capitol say, that an automated assistant had to be installed to handle them all.

Little posted Feb. 27 on Facebook thanking President Donald Trump for his support of H.B. 93, writing, “Idaho is now the first state to offer school choice from kindergarten through career.”

On his own social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote on Feb. 16: “Congratulations to Governor Brad Little, and Idaho Legislators, who are fighting to bring School Choice to their beautiful State. $50 million Dollars to empower parents to provide the very best Education for their child — GREAT news for Idaho families. This Bill, which has my Complete and Total Support MUST PASS! [sic]”

Seventy-three public school superintendents — representing districts that educate more than 300,000 Idaho students — wrote to Little that they were “gravely concerned that privatizing education will, over time, erode the stability of our republic.”

Citing the Idaho Constitution, they wrote: “We strongly believe that such a monumental shift to our established system of free, common, public schools should be put to voters as a referendum to amend Idaho’s Constitution. Barring that, we implore you to please keep your promise to Idaho taxpayers by vetoing House Bill 93 and demanding that the legislature ensure fair, responsible, transparent, and accountable use of public tax dollars.”

In a separate letter, published Feb. 24 by Idaho Ed News, North Idaho superintendents including Dr. Becky Meyer, of Lake Pend Oreille School District; Kim Spacek, of West Bonner County School District; and Jan Bayer, of Boundary County School District wrote that, “North Idaho takes pride in our public schools, our communities and our ability to make decisions that reflect Idaho’s values — not the interests of out-of-state billionaires looking to reshape our education system.”

The central point of the letter was that H.B. 93 lacks accountability, specifically with regard to testing requirements for non-public schools, and represents a risky use of taxpayer dollars — a statement Little himself made at an Idaho Press Club forum prior to signing the bill, when he told reporters, “There’s not enough accountability in it.”

“Public education is the backbone of North Idaho,” superintendents wrote. “Our schools serve every family, regardless of financial means. But instead of strengthening our local public schools, H.B. 93 would divert critical resources away from them, putting our communities at risk.”

According to a State Board of Education report issued in Feburary 2024 (and based on 2021-’22 numbers), there are about 16,800 private school students enrolled at 155 institutions offering instruction in at least two grades from first-12th statewide. Ada County has the largest number of such schools, with 32, followed by Kootenai County with 18 and Canyon County with 10. Bonner County has between six and 10 private schools, according to the report.

Meyer told the Reader in an interview that LPOSD — which has just over 3,800 students enrolled at 11 schools and one homeschool academy — is most concerned about H.B. 93 when it comes to testing.

“I’ve been on the record saying I’m not opposed to families having choice. If families choose and want to do a private or homeschool option, I’m in support of that — unlike some superintendents throughout the state — as long as we can measure apples to apples, Granny Smiths to Granny Smiths,” she said.

“The bill … does not have accountability,” Meyer added. “If we are only held [accountable] for parent satisfaction, that’s fine. I’m OK with getting rid of all the red tape, and the hours upon hours of endless reports and paperwork that we have, but it just… that’s not equitable. I’m all for families using money for homeschool if there’s a different curriculum they want to do, private schools or Christian schools, if it’s best for their kid, as long as we’re all measured on the same measuring stick.”

Spacek, at WBCSD, told the Reader that while he hadn’t read the legislation before signing the letters urging Little to veto H.B. 93, he stood by his signature.

However, he said that the bill should be more accurately described as a “tax credit,” rather than a “voucher,” and it serves to challenge public school districts to be more “attractive” to students whose families may be considering alternative enrollment in private schooling.

Stacy Happell, of the privately funded Selle Valley Carden School, declined to comment “as we are uncertain on how this will affect us or anyone attending school with us.”

Julie McCallan, who serves as pedagogical director of Sandpoint Waldorf School, said her institution “will continue to offer a holistic, age appropriate and academically robust curriculum which fosters critical thinking, empathy and a lifelong love of learning. 

“While we welcome efforts to make alternative education more accessible, we also recognize the importance of a strong public school system,” she added. “A thriving public education system benefits everyone in our community, and we do not wish to see public school funding diminished in a way that could negatively impact students.”

Mary Jensen, who serves as executive director of Forrest M. Bird Charter Schools, echoed Meyer’s concerns about accountability, while also telling the Reader that she doesn’t anticipate H.B. 93 negatively affecting her school, which is a publicly funded charter with 255 students in sixth-12th grade.

However, she worries about the overall impact on the state budget.

“My concerns are large in that respect — partly because they’re also looking at large income tax cuts,” she said, “$250 million in an income tax cut means there’s less revenue coming in to pay for public schools as it is, now they’re adding $50 million for private schools. Where’s that money going to come from? …

“We have definite standards and accountability that we need to provide as public schools that the bill does not clarify how that accountability is going to be done, or if any accountably will be done towards the use of money,” Jensen added. “No tests, no proving — if you don’t know what that money is used for, that’s no better than the government spending money and we don’t know where it’s going. This is taxpayer money.” 

Leaders at Sandpoint Christian School, Sandpoint Junior Academy, Selkirk School and Valor Christian High School did not respond to a request for comment.

The Idaho Education Association issued a statement Feb. 28 that Little had signed H.B. 93 “against rampant opposition,” describing the pushback from Idaho educators, parents, guardians and students as “vociferous” and “centered on the bill’s lack of accountability.”

“Bringing vouchers to Idaho is a huge mistake,” stated IEA President Layne McInelly. “House Bill 93 is just the beginning. Voucher proponents — eager to help out-of-state billionaires plunder Idaho’s public school budget — are already planning how to exploit and expand this program during 2026’s legislative session.” 

The effort to channel public money to private schools — including those with a religiously inspired curriculum — has been nationwide, with high-dollar backing from organizations like the American Federation for Children, Citizens Alliance of Idaho, Yes. every kid and Young Americans for Liberty.

Lobbying efforts on behalf of “school choice” go back years. According to a June 2023 report from the Boise-based Idaho Statesman, those groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote legislation subsidizing private education with public dollars, though those efforts had been unsuccessful until this year.

Yes. every kid alone spent $113,000 lobbying for school choice legislation as far back as 2021. That group, which sent robocalls to Idahoans urging them to call Little’s office in support of H.B. 93, is part of what the Associated Press described in 2019 as a “sprawling network of wealthy donors, political groups and tax-exempt advocacy organizations” under the leadership of “billionaire industrialist” Charles Koch, who is among the most influential players in ultra-conservative policy circles.

“To date, the Koch strategy has been to profit from and compete with public schools, while trying to ‘defund and defang’ anyone who got in their way,” American Federation of Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten said, according to the AP.

Yes. every kid has frequently applauded Little for his stance on education — including “championing the nation’s strongest K-12 open enrollment policy” and “empowering parents.”

“Idaho stands as a beacon of educational opportunity, thanks to the transformative leadership of Governor Brad Little,” the 501(c)(4) organization stated in December 2024. 

Lauding Little’s signature of H.B. 93, Yes. every kid issued a statement Feb. 27 that, “Idaho joins a wave of states from throughout the nation to enact universal education freedom, reflecting the growing national trend toward personalized education. This bill is the strongest and most family-friendly education policy in the nation.”

Yet criticism of H.B. 93 remains steadfast — including that it runs afoul of the Idaho Constitution’s mandate that the Legislature “establish and maintain a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools.” What’s more, Idaho Ed News reported Feb. 18 that constituent emails to Little’s office were “10-to-1” against the bill, with many citing the Idaho Constitution’s Blaine Amendment, which bars state and local governments from funneling public dollars to religious institutions.

Proponents say H.B. 93 does not violate the Blaine Amendment because “parents, not schools, would receive taxpayer funds,” Idaho Ed News reported. 

Sauter highlighted some of those concerns in a Feb. 27 opinion piece published by the Reader, writing in part, “Our public schools are saddled with considerable reporting and requirements to teach all students. H.B. 93 doesn’t make those demands. During the floor debates, we heard stories of students being turned away from certain schools because their faith was different from that of the religious school they were considering. These types of decisions being made with public funds involved are troubling.”

Woodward also penned an opinion piece published in the Reader on Feb. 13, stating, “Idaho policy decisions are being heavily driven by out-of-state influence. I have resoundingly heard from folks at home that they are opposed to these proposals to fund private schools with public money. In the Capitol, the opposite is true. Which begs the question, whose ‘school choice’ is this?”

Yet, looking ahead to implementation of H.B. 93, LPOSD Superintendent Meyer said the local school district will weather the changes.

“There will be some great homeschool families that will more than surpass what we do, and they know that that works for their child. Great. I’m happy to have that, happy to have that. There will be private and Christian and charter schools in the area that will far surpass what we’re able to do, I’m happy for that. If that’s what works for that student, I’m happy for that. I just don’t want to see any students fall between cracks,” she said. 

“I’m personally not worried about losing a lot of students to other options because we have such a great school system,” Meyer later added. “Our parents are, for the most part, extremely happy with the education that their students receive.”

Additional reporting by 

Ben Olson.