The Courier
News
The 2018 Election --Education
This year’s Primary Election will be held on May 15th. The filing period to be on the ballot (state and county offices) is from February 26th thru March 9th. Most candidates running for county offices will wait until after the filing deadline to begin their campaigns, however, campaigns for state offices have already begun. The Republican candidates for state offices are working hard to get your votes and the nomination to represent the GOP in the general election to be held on November 6th. The Lincoln Day events, which began this last weekend, brought nearly all of the State Republican candidates to District 26 (Blaine, Camas, Gooding & Lincoln). The main Primary Election races to watch are: Governor, Lt. Governor, State Treasurer, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Governor race will likely dominate the news, but the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction is in some ways the most important. Education (K–12 and higher) represents nearly two-thirds of the state’s general fund spending (63%) and supports over 14,500 teachers and almost 300,000 students. At $6700 to $6800 per student, Idaho has the second lowest spending per pupil in the country. Of course, Idaho also has one of the lowest ‘cost of living’ in the nation. While school districts rely heavily on supplemental levies, local funding for education in Idaho averages less than 25% of their budgets (the national average is 45% for both state and local funding, with 10% federal). Only three states — Hawaii, Vermont and New Mexico — receive a higher percentage from the state. As you might guess, this dependence on state funding comes with strings attached. There are more than two dozen mandatory budget items, and over 75% of the state appropriation must be spent in those specific areas. Only about 24% of state funding can be used for discretionary expenditures. Sherri Ybarra - the incumbent Superintendent - says she is a strong advocate for local control of schools. Yet, she is also a strong proponent of the Idaho Content Standards. Even though local school districts are allowed to adopt their own curriculums, small schools with limited discretionary funds have few real choices as to how they teach those standards. She supports the idea of more federal funds to help build schools, as long as the standards and testing remain in the hands of Idaho. Her challenger - Jeff Dillon - is the superintendent and elementary principal for the Wilder School District. Along with several national awards, he was instrumental in bringing Apple’s ConnectED program to Wilder in 2014 (one of only 114 schools in the nation) which provided iPads for every student and faculty member. He supports the idea of partnering with businesses rather than taking federal funds, which always comes with strings attached.
News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
January 17, 2018
Vol 42 ~ Num 3
OPEN HOUSE FOR South Fork Boise River Road
An Open House will be held on February 1, 2018, at 6 pm at the Camas Senior Center, 129 Willow Avenue West in Fairfield Idaho, to provide information regarding the South Fork Boise River Road Relocation Project. The Fairfield Ranger District and Camas County propose to relocate segments of the South Fork Boise River Road (Forest Road 227) out of the floodplain around existing washouts. In addition, the Fairfield Ranger District is accepting scoping comments on the proposed project. The public to participate and provide feedback. Please refer all comments on this proposal to: Fairfield Ranger District, Attn: FR 227 Relocation Project; PO Box 189, Fairfield, ID 83327; by FAX at (208) 764-3211; by email in a format (pdf, txt, rtf, or document compatible with Microsoft Office applications) to: comments-intermtn-sawtooth-fairfield@fs.fed. us; or you may hand-deliver your comments to the Fairfield Ranger District Office in Fairfield. Please contact David Skinner, Project Manager at 208-7643202, or visit the project webpage at https://www.fs.usda.gov/ project?project=49740, for additional information.
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