PERSPECTIVES
Talk is cheap when it comes to our children’s education By Rep. Lauren Necochea, D-Boise Reader Contributor As Idahoans, we value our children, as should our elected leaders. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a politician who admits otherwise, but actions are more telling than words. Three decades of disinvestment by Republican lawmakers have led to unsafe school facilities and diminished opportunities in the worst-funded schools in our nation. Idaho’s kids deserve better. A recent investigation by the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica [propublica.org/article/idaho-deteriorating-schools-repair-bonds] shines a light on the dire straits of our schools. At Valley View Elementary in Boundary County, freezing classrooms, collapsing roofs, hazardous playgrounds and insufficient bathrooms are just some of the conditions students
endure. And the risks of run-down infrastructure are high: faulty electrical equipment caused last week’s fire gutting the entire wing of a Pocatello high school. Thankfully, no one was hurt, this time. Research shows $1.3 billion in unmet facility needs across Idaho — a legacy of neglect by the Republican supermajority. With state funding falling short, school leaders are forced to ask their local communities to fill the gap through supplemental
levies and bonds. Rather than helping schools meet their severe needs, Republican legislators keep throwing up roadblocks. By capping the homeowner’s exemption and causing an ever-growing property tax shift onto residents and away from commercial interests, the Legislature made it harder for struggling Idahoans to add school funding to their inflated tax bills, even when they see a strong need. With a two-thirds threshold required to pass bonds — higher than almost every other state — questions about community investment are being controlled by a minority of voters. This year, Republican lawmakers eliminated the March election date districts rely on for their elections, meaning they now have fewer opportunities to simply ask their voters to consider bonds and levies. The growing reliance on locally-passed funding measures has
created a patchwork of haves and have-nots. Well-off districts with a strong tax base are able to provide better facilities, more career technical education and special classes, while districts with fewer resources have fewer offerings. And failed levies can spell crisis. In a few weeks, Coeur d’Alene voters will decide the fate of a two-year, $25 million supplemental levy. If it doesn’t pass, the district will have to declare a fiscal emergency. Over a quarter of district employees will be laid off, two elementary schools will close and extracurricular activities, including school sports, will cease. By failing to adequately fund our schools and making it harder
for communities to fill the gap, Republican lawmakers are in dereliction of their school funding duty enshrined in the Idaho Constitution. Idaho Democrats are steadfast in our commitment to preparing the next generation. Our children are our future. With the proper investment, that future will be bright. Rep. Lauren Necochea is the House assistant Democratic leader, representing District 19 in Boise on the Commerce and Human Resources; Environment, Energy and Technology; Revenue and Taxation; and Ways and Means committees.
Dist. 1 Sen. Scott Herndon continues with dirty tricks as BCRCC chairman By Tony McDermott Reader Staff Having read on the front page of the Bonner County Daily Bee (April 24) that the Bonner County Republican Central Committee, chaired by Sen. Scott Herndon, awarded a no-confidence vote for District 1 Rep. Mark Sauter — along with the April 29 Coeur d’Alene Press op-ed alleging our same senator paid out-of-state McShane LLC $80,000 to attack fellow Republicans in the last election cycle — I feel compelled to respond. [Editor’s note: For much more on those stories, see “Current, former District 1 officials respond to BCRCC ‘no-confidence’ vote on Sauter,” April 27, 2023; and “Big-money Nevada consultants play part in Herndon Senate campaign,” March 24, 2022, at sandpointreader.com.] As a conservative Republican, appointed to two terms as an Idaho Fish and Game commissioner for the panhandle, a member of the governor’s wolf control board and preceded by many years of military service, I have witnessed the good, bad and ugly in politics. I resigned from this group as a precinct chair along with a half-dozen others on the same night due to their divisive, uncompromising political views. According to Herndon, Mark Sauter, former-Dist. 1 Sen. Jim Woodward and numerous other solid Republicans who do not fall in line with Herndon’s “my-way-or-thehighway” are labeled as RINOS, not fit to be in the Republican Party. The BCRCC under Herndon’s leadership has disintegrated into a cesspool of toxic leadership. With this current group, ethical standards and values have been replaced by “anything goes to win.” In the last
primary, he conducted a scorched-earth campaign of lies, distortion and name calling against his opponent. His method of operation continues against those with whom he disagrees, funded by multiple sources outside the district and some external to the state of Idaho. The sad part of all of this is that his approach to politics worked, because 50% of the registered Republican voters in Bonner and Boundary counties failed to vote in the primary. Let me make it crystal clear about what Herndon and his gang are up to: They are upset that Rep. Sauter has not towed the line according to the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s principles and voted accordingly. That would be to go along with Herndon’s attempt to make abortion so extreme a mother’s life is no longer valued, which resulted in hospital OBGYN departments closing and doctors leaving the state. This, along with proposed legislation for criminal prosecutions for those performing abortion. Additionally, he worked to defund public education, and put control of libraries in the hands of his style of government. The sick part is that he has convinced BCRCC membership to go along with his extreme proposals. It is the BCRCC that should be censured, and not Rep. Sauter. This corrupt politician, Herndon — who has a closet full of skeletons — needs to be defeated in the next election. I will do my best to make this happen and request the help of the voting public in Legislative District 1. Tony McDermott is a conservative Republican, served two appointed terms as an Idaho Fish and Game commissioner for the panhandle area, as a member of the governor’s wolf control board and is a military veteran. May 4, 2023 / R / 11