House committee approves bill to give charter-school admission preference to military families

Boise — The Idaho House Committee on Education voted 12 to 2 to send House Bill 163 to the full House with a due-pass recommendation after roughly an hour of testimony and debate.

The bill, sponsored by Representative David Levitt, would add “families with at least 1 parent or legal guardian on active duty or active guard and reserve duty as defined in Title 10 U.S. Code subsection 101” to the existing charter-school admissions preference list. Levitt told the committee the change is intended "to support military families by giving their children priority access to charter schools."

Supporters — including military spouses, charter-school administrators and veterans — told the committee that frequent relocations and deployments create academic disruption for military children. Steve Lambert, a charter-school leader and 24-year Air Force veteran, said the average military move every two to three years makes it difficult for…