Gov. Brad Little called for a reverse of educational budget cuts, which includes increasing Idaho colleges and universities’ budgets by 2.6%. Community colleges receiving a 5.4% increase.
Little also called to increase Idaho’s K-12 budget by over $2 billion for the first time in Idaho history. The proposal would generate $315.2 million of tax dollars toward higher education in 2022.
“But with all the disruptions in education delivery over the past 10 months, many of Idaho’s students are experiencing a learning loss,” Little said in an IdahoEdNews interview. “For some students who were already on track, the learning loss could range a few months. But our needier students may have lost more than a year’s worth of learning.”
According to IdahoEdNews, some 2022 fiscal budget year highlights include $9.7 million toward high school programs to allow students to earn college credits while still in high school, $44.9 million to increase teacher and veteran educator’s pay and $31 million to the Public Education Stabilization Fund to replace the exhausted funds in 2020.
If Little’s higher education budget proposal passes, Boise State University President Dr. Marlene Tromp has pledged to continue the university’s tuition freeze for a second year.
“(We) recognize the increased financial challenges that we all are facing, and will do our part to keep tuition affordable and education accessible,” Tromp said in a press release.
University of Idaho President C. Scott Green and Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee also committed to a tuition freeze if the proposal passes, according to IdahoEdNews.
Photo by Mackenzie Hudson | The Arbiter
