this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2024
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115
The influential conservative group making it harder for Idaho districts to fix their schools (www.propublica.org)
submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
4 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The Idaho Freedom Foundation has gone beyond the education culture wars by targeting local bond and levy elections, which districts rely on heavily to build and repair schools.

The blue and orange leaflets that arrived in Idaho Falls mailboxes ahead of the school bond election in November 2022 looked like the usual fare that voters across the country get. Sent out by the school district, the mailers encouraged people in the eastern Idaho city to register to vote and listed bullet points highlighting what the bond would pay for.

But the mailers, along with other materials the district distributed, would lead the county prosecutor’s office to fine the superintendent and the district’s spokesperson, accusing them of violating election law by using taxpayer money to advocate for the bond measure. According to the prosecutor, it was illegal for district officials to describe the schools as “overcrowded” and “aged” or to say that students “need modern, safe, and secure schools.”

Such penalties were made possible by a 2018 state law originally pushed by the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a conservative lobbying group that has become a big player in Idaho Republican politics. The foundation has stoked hostility toward public education across the state, pushing book bans in school libraries and accusing districts of indoctrinating students with “woke” ideas like critical race theory.

But unlike groups in other states, the Freedom Foundation has extended its reach by targeting school bond and levy elections, which have traditionally been local issues and are the main ways districts build and repair schools.

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[–] Ekybio@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago

More educated people will unlikely vote right-wing.

So in order to get more votes, instead of making better politics, conservatives just want to dismantle schools even more.

"Would somebody please think of the children?!"

Let me assure you, conservatives do. Way too often and in ways that are illegal...

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml 7 points 9 months ago

Growing up in Idaho there was a big campaign to improve literacy. Went from being one of the most illiterate states to middle of the pack (looks like they're even a bit better currently). The public schools were not great then but they were trying in a lot of ways. I'm not surprised but it saddens me to see Idaho diving back into abandoning education. Must not have liked that some people grew up able to think critically about the terrible politics there

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

It seems like any group with "Freedom" in the title is trying very hard to take away others' freedoms

[–] FirstCircle@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 months ago

Those same Republicans have almost succeeded in ruining one public college in N. ID.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/apr/02/north-idaho-college-has-one-last-shot-to-fix-accreditation/

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities has required NIC to make teach-out agreements for all of its academic programs by the end of August. These agreements would be signed by nearby institutions that would allow students to transfer if NIC loses accreditation.

Swayne said it still could be a hardship for some NIC students to transfer to another school. There isn’t another Idaho community college nearby, and even transferring to University of Idaho in Moscow would bring higher tuition and would require moving. Transferring to a college in the Spokane area would mean out-of-state tuition and a commute.