The Blog at MSPC

Idaho taxpayers spend millions of dollars supporting public colleges and universities each year. But are they getting the results they deserve?

With the federal rules now on the table, Washington's remaining question is no longer how the program will work. It is whether the state will participate. Taxpayers and students in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are already set up to benefit from the new federal Education Freedom Tax credit.

The Idaho Education Association is cutting roughly 13% of its staff, eliminating four organizer positions, closing all five of its regional offices and scaling back its annual Summer Institute. In other words, it is dealing with a major budget mess. And it has no one to blame but itself.

Open collective bargaining should be the default when government officials are negotiating public services and government salaries with taxpayer dollars. Especially when those dollars are already stretched thin.

The people elect members of the state house and senate to represent their will. This decision allows the legislature to exercise its proper authority over how the K-12 public school system should be financed and the policies it should use to achieve lasting student success.

In 2025 alone, Idaho, Wyoming, Tennessee, Texas, and other states created or significantly expanded private education-choice programs.

When Idaho lawmakers passed the state's new parental choice tax credit in 2025, we knew it wouldn't take long to determine whether the program would be a success. After all, implementation was almost immediate, and the law was hailed as the nation's "best education choice program." Still, it was important to help families understand the system, and defend the law from an expected court challenge.

Seattle’s threat of an illegal strike should be a warning. Washington’s education system should put children at the center of every spending decision.

Idaho should absolutely provide the resources necessary to give every public school student a quality education. And policymakers should design a funding system that recognizes legitimate attendance fluctuations and gives districts reasonable predictability from year to year. But predictability cannot become an excuse to disconnect funding from reality.

Idaho students aren't just competing with students in neighboring states for future careers. They are competing with the future innovators and leaders of the world.

So many families applied that the program hit its nearly $50 million statutory cap Friday, forcing the Idaho State Tax Commission to close the application window about a month before the law's outside deadline of August 15.

Wyoming families and students have a huge reason to celebrate. As of July 6, they can apply for up to $7,000 for costs related to private or homeschooling for K-12 students for the 2026/2027 school year.

Education debates almost always begin with the premise that schools need more funding. Rarely do we hear a definition of success. Is it another $100 million? Another $500 million? A billion? At what point would education leaders say, "Yes, this is sufficient"?

Before there could be a declaration, there had to be a decision. That decision came on July 2, 1776.

Good news for Idaho families! The Idaho Tax Commission has announced it will reopen the application window for the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit Program tomorrow, May 21, at 8 a.m. (MDT).

Despite lawsuits, repeal efforts, and relentless political attacks, thousands of Idaho families still chose educational opportunity for their children.

Education choice in Wyoming and throughout the United States has the potential to usher in an era of learning focused on student success, tailored to their individual needs. This decision is a great start towards that goal.

Idaho took a significant step this year toward strengthening civics education and preparing the next generation for informed citizenship.

We currently know that roughly half of participating families fall below the program’s priority threshold of 300% of the federal poverty level. What we do not know is the median income of all participating families. But critics routinely leap from “we don’t yet know” to “wealthy families are exploiting the system.”

It is Gov. Ferguson’s decision whether Washington families will benefit, or if the money will instead flow to students in participating states.