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Analysis: Idaho picks a fledgling firm to ship $50 million of education grants to parents
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on September 29, 2022 In just three weeks, more than 18,000 Idahoans have applied for a piece of the state’s Empowering Parents education grants program. Parents have applied for more than $37.5 million, which would gobble up more than three-fourths of the $50 million set aside for the grants. The job […]
Idaho schools chief Sherri Ybarra gives out more than $600,000 in staff bonuses, an apparent record
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on September 21, 2022 State superintendent Sherri Ybarra gave her employees more than $600,000 in bonuses this spring. It appears to be the largest set of bonuses Ybarra has awarded in her eight years in office. The payments began in April, weeks before the May Republican primary. Ybarra finished third in […]
Four incumbents, Boise student win Boise School Board races
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on September 6, 2022 (UPDATED, 6:02 a.m. Wednesday, with final results.) Four incumbent trustees were easily re-elected Tuesday, while high school senior Shiva Rajbhandari captured a seat on the Boise School Board. Rajbhandari, a Boise High School student who recently turned 18, unseated incumbent Steve Schmidt, appointed to the board less […]
Idaho schools chief Sherri Ybarra makes one last push for teacher pay, raises for staffers
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on September 6, 2022 In her eighth and final budget request, state superintendent Sherri Ybarra is pushing for additional pay raises for teachers and staffers. Ybarra is proposing an additional $158.7 million for K-12 — a 6.9% increase for the budget year beginning July 1. Nearly half of the new money […]
Lost donors, calls for action: An in-depth look inside Boise State’s Scott Yenor firestorm
This story was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on Aug. 25, 2022. When professor Scott Yenor went viral in November — with a speech decrying career-oriented women as “medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome,” and colleges and universities as “the citadels of our gynocracy” — Boise State University said little. Now, the university is virtually silent. Boise State […]
Tromp admonishes Boise State University faculty to take on hard questions
This story was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on Aug. 17, 2022. Marlene Tromp touted a pair of big-money records Wednesday. The Boise State University president used her fourth state of the university address to thank faculty and staff for their efforts during a turbulent time for higher education. And acknowledging one source of the turbulence […]
Analysis: Boise’s sleepy school trustee elections could be a relic of the past
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on August 11, 2022 A lot has changed since September 2020, when Boise’s last school board elections were a snoozer. The uproar over school pandemic policies has only intensified. A national furor over indoctrination and critical race theory has spilled into Idaho. And across much of the state, the 2021 school […]
After $6 million, Idaho’s online higher education program moves closer to launch
This story was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on July 20, 2022. This fall, two students at each Idaho college will register for their fall classes on a new statewide online portal — and the state will pick up the costs. The 16-student pilot represents a “stress test” for Online Idaho, a new effort to offer […]
University of Idaho owes a $400,000 airline subsidy
This story was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on July 6, 2022. The University of Idaho will pay $400,000 to subsidize air service to and from the Palouse for the just-ended school year. But U of I officials say the subsidized service is doing what they wanted it to do: It is helping the university draw […]
Analysis: A long-term enrollment challenge looms for Idaho higher education
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on June 23, 2022. Colleges have been fighting the enrollment crisis of the day: recruiting students in the COVID-19 era. But other enrollment issues loom on the horizon in Idaho. The issues have to do with demographics: growth and birth rates. And they could hit Idaho’s four-year schools in different ways. […]
Divided North Idaho College board selects a new president
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on June 23, 2022. North Idaho College has a new president — its third in nine months. And as with most things at NIC, it wasn’t easy. A divided board of trustees Wednesday named Nick Swayne the college’s new president. His start date is unclear. Trustees and Swayne will work over […]
A ‘crisis:’ A grim Idaho State Board of Education looks at the looming teacher shortage
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on June 15, 2022 Idaho schools are in the middle of a systemwide, unprecedented teacher hiring “crisis,” State Board of Education member Linda Clark said Wednesday. Clark, a retired West Ada School District superintendent, said the problem goes beyond anything the K-12 system has faced in the past. Historically, public schools […]