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Legislative analysts outline public school funding drivers, warn support-unit counts are down
Summary
Legislative analysts told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that Idaho’s public school appropriation is driven by statutory formulas tied to support units, career-ladder funding and federal grants; attendance-based support-unit counts have fallen, reducing statutory distributions even as per-unit funding remains high.
Jared Tetrault, deputy division manager with the Legislative Services Office Budget and Policy Analysis Division, told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on March 4 that the public school support appropriation is governed by Idaho Constitution Article IX, Section 1 and the statutes in Title 33. He said the program serves 115 local school districts and roughly 75 public charter schools, and that the appropriation is organized into divisions including teachers, student support, facilities and central services.
The state distributes most K‑12 funding through statutory support units; for each support unit the legislature funds 1.55 full‑time‑equivalent positions, Tetrault said. He also described salary‑based apportionment (career ladder), discretionary funds and the Public Education Stabilization Fund (PSIF), which is used to reconcile appropriations and…
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