‘What do you value?’: Superintendent, state senator want to hear from parents and educators
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IDAHO FALLS — Idaho’s state superintendent visited the College of Eastern Idaho Thursday evening to solicit feedback from local parents and educators regarding potential updates to Idaho’s public education funding formula.
Superintendent Debbie Critchfield was joined by Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, for the Funding Formula Modernization Listening Session, which was part of a three-stop tour across the state. The forum drew 40 participants to the College of Eastern Idaho, where the bulk of the evening was spent listening to parents and educators weigh in on a variety of public education issues.
‘Just what is AI?’
“If we could reinvent public education today for the next generation, for the next 50 years, what could it look like? And, what should it look like? … Most people don’t realize that the current process or system that we have in public education was primarily implemented in the 1900s,” Lent told the crowd in his introduction to the forum.
The senator spoke about how funding for public education in America has shifted at key junctures, such as the industrial revolution of the early 20th century and the information age of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
“Now we’re trying to wrestle with AI, the sum of all those things. And more than that, we’re trying to figure out: Just what is AI, and what will the impact be on our culture, specifically?” Lent said.
Critchfield framed the evening as part of a greater information-gathering effort she and her colleagues at the Idaho Department of Public Education have undertaken to prepare for the 2027 legislative session.
“The legislative branch, as the appropriators, will ultimately have the final say on what is approved,” Critchfield said. “I don’t know that we’re ever going to get to the perfect place, but I think the one thing that we agree upon is that our current funding distribution isn’t getting the job done. … Policies have driven us towards or away from the 1994 funding model that we (currently) have in place.”
‘What do you value?’
Throughout her remarks, Critchfield repeatedly stressed the importance of focusing on values and encouraged participants to openly share their most pressing concerns about public education.
“What do you value?” she asked. “What should Idaho taxpayers be prioritizing that turns us back to a student-centered system that really is about the future of education?”
Some common themes that emerged throughout the evening includeed a change to enrollment-based funding, more attention and resources given to both special education and gifted student programs, and the need to better support and respect teachers.
Enrollment-based funding versus attendance
Dr. Benjamin Merrill, executive director of Meridian Medical Arts Charter High School, urged lawmakers to move away from the current attendance-based funding system, a sentiment echoed by several of the speakers.
“I think it’s critical that we move from attendance-based funding to enrollment-based funding,” Merrill said. “I hire my staff, build my master schedule, coordinate transportation, purchase curriculum (and) operate a school based on enrollment, not daily attendance. Attendance should be an accountability measure, not the primary funding mechanism.”
Career Technical Education
Many of the speakers also praised Career Technical Education, or CTE, programs, citing examples of their children graduating from high school with professional credentials.
“CTE is doing amazing things,” said Marcy Curr, who also described herself as “a speech and debate coach for the past 25 years (and a) classroom educator for 18 years.”
Curr said her daughter just graduated from high school with certifications for emergency medical technician, firefighter and hazardous materials.
“The day after her 18th birthday, she is scheduled to take her live burn test,” Curr said of her daughter, “and she will be qualified to work for fire departments in our state. So, CTE is invaluable.”
Curr also noted that despite her many years as a public educator, she resigned from her position this year “because my love for teaching is gone. At this point, the legislation we have in place has made paperwork take more time than teaching.”
ISATs and testing challenges
Katie Berry, a teacher at the virtual Idaho Home Learning Academy, stressed that she isn’t entirely opposed to standardized testing, but also offered some criticisms of the current practices and their impact on student learning.
“As a teacher, I can tell you those tests are not accurate; they are completely inaccurate,” Berry said. “The (Idaho Standards Achievement) testing is measuring how well they (students) can take the ISAT. If the ISATs were truly measuring proficiency, your state standards and the normal lessons that teachers are teaching should be enough to prepare them — but they’re not. And so, we’re finding that teachers have to create specific lessons around ISATs.”
Education: the ‘goose that lays the golden egg’
Mark Morgan, principal of Hawthorne Elementary School, expressed confidence in Idaho’s ability to adapt to challenges and improve the school system.
“Education is that golden goose that produces these golden eggs, those magical golden eggs,” he said.
“We can do it as public schools,” Morgan continued. “We can embrace the myriad of school choices we have. The choice is something we can embrace, because our choices are going to help more of our students succeed and help those students see what their potential is.”
The Funding Formula Modernization Listening Session tour started in Boise and will conclude on June 18 in Coeur d’Alene. A statewide virtual Zoom event is also planned for June 25 from 6-8 p.m, which anyone can join to share their thoughts and opinions.