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House education chair urges continued investment, warns rural schools face greatest risk
Summary
Rep. Doug Pickett told JFAC that Idaho has made large gains in K-12 funding and teacher pay but warned rural districts remain at risk and outlined specific unmet facility and special-education funding gaps.
Rep. Doug Pickett, House Education chairman, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on March 7 that Idaho has made substantial progress increasing K–12 funding but that rural school districts remain especially vulnerable without continued targeted support.
"Over the past 10 years, the public education K‑12 budget has doubled from 1,400,000,000.0 to 2,800,000,000.0," Pickett said. "Idaho's average K‑12 teacher pay has increased to less to nearly $63,000 this school year, representing a 42% increase over the past decade." He thanked the committee for recent salary increases and for allowing districts to enroll teachers in the state health insurance plan.
Pickett said funding discussions should balance classical academics with career…
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