Idaho school bond failures show the gap between haves and have-nots, need for reform

Tuesday’s school bond and levy elections didn’t show much of a surprise, but they do show a disparity in education. According to Idaho Ed News, voters in Middleton and Vallivue school districts in Canyon County shot down bonds to pay for new schools.

Both received majorities, but in Idaho, that’s not good enough. Long-term debt like this requires a supermajority of at least 66.7%, which means that a “no” vote carries twice as much weight as a “yes” vote.

It’s a high hurdle to clear, for sure, but other districts do it when it’s clear there’s a need.

In Middleton’s case, they clearly showed a need. According to Idaho Statesman reporter Becca Savransky, teachers have had to resort to converting the library — with a curtain as a makeshift wall — into a classroom space, a teacher’s lounge has been repurposed into a classroom and portable classrooms have been ordered. One elementary school is at 123% capacity, and another is at 134% in this fast-growing city.

But Middleton voters won’t be persuaded. This is the fifth time voters have rejected funding for a new school in the past seven years.

Middleton and Vallivue weren’t alone in shooting down bonds. Voters in school districts in Boundary County and Ririe rejected bond measures, and voters in Buhl and Coeur d’Alene shot down plant facilities levies, which take care of basics like maintenance and security upgrades.

Meanwhile, voters in Blaine County passed their $25 million plant facilities levy, and voters in the Madison school district (Rexburg) passed their $4 million supplemental levy. Other districts passed smaller levies, and Jerome appeared to have cleared the two-thirds bar to pass a $12 million bond.

At the very least, Tuesday’s mixed results show that we have a hodgepodge of funding streams for school districts that invariably lead to uneven education.

How can you argue that a student in a portable classroom in Middleton is on equal footing with a student in a brand-new building in Sun Valley?

Idaho is becoming a state of haves and have-nots when it comes to education.

All of these bonds and levies are on the backs of property taxes, and some parts of the state have more wherewithal and willingness to bear that burden than other parts of the state.

Further, bond measures require that two-thirds supermajority to pass, while other measures require 60%, 55% or simple majorities, again leading to wildly varying results, depending on where you live.

The Idaho Legislature is meeting in special session Thursday to potentially pump $410 million into public education. That might ease the need for supplemental levies, but none of it does anything to solve the problem of property taxes bearing the burden of building new schools and maintaining school buildings.

If we are truly to have “a general, uniform and thorough system of public, free common schools,” as the Idaho Constitution mandates, we need to come up with a much better system of funding new school buildings, as well as the maintenance and operations of schools.

Otherwise, a kid in one part of the state is not receiving the same quality of education as a child in another part of the state.

Not only is that not right, it’s not constitutional.