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House Education Chair Doug Pickett urges balanced boost for rural schools, CTE and teacher pay
Summary
House Education Chairman Doug Pickett told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that Idaho has increased K–12 spending and teacher pay over the past decade but still faces large facility, special education and other funding gaps, and urged continued investment in rural schools and career and technical education (CTE).
House Education Chairman Rep. Doug Pickett told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on March 7 that the state has made significant progress on K–12 funding over the last decade but must keep focusing on rural schools, teacher recruitment and career and technical education.
"If we steadied the ship and allowed good fiscal policy to have its effect, that the good times would return," Pickett said, describing budgetary conditions after the 2008 recession and thanking the committee for subsequent investments.
Pickett said Idaho's K–12 budget has doubled over the last 10 years, from $1.4 billion to $2.8 billion, while student counts rose by under 9 percent, and that average K–12 teacher pay is "nearly $63,000 this school year," a roughly 42 percent increase over the decade. He thanked…
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