Bill Analyses and Ratings

Bill Summary

Senate Bill 1362 appropriates approximately $3.13 billion for Idaho’s Public Schools Educational Support Program for fiscal year 2027 (July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027). The bill funds six divisions: Division of Teachers ($1,355,188,100, including $11 million in federal grants), Division of Student Support ($1,700,246,000, including $249.6 million in federal grants for Children’s Programs), Idaho Digital Learning Academy ($25,810,000), Division of Facilities ($12,589,700), Division of Central Services ($19,237,600), and Division of Educational Services for the Deaf and Blind ($17,121,600, including $250,100 from the School for the Deaf and Blind Endowment Fund). Section 32 transfers $2,773,295,400 from the General Fund to the Public School Income Fund to support these appropriations.

The bill’s actual amendments are narrow: four dollar amounts are inserted to specify federal grant fund contributions ($11 million to the Division of Teachers, $249,647,800 to the Children’s Programs Division) and an endowment fund contribution ($250,100 to the Deaf and Blind Division), with a corresponding total federal grant figure of $260,647,800 inserted in Section 7’s fund source reconciliation. These insertions clarify the original fund sources for expenditures but do not alter the underlying program structures, funding formulas, or policy directives already established in existing law. Specific program funding includes $13.75 million for teacher professional development, $36.5 million for classroom technology and learning management systems, $4.82 million for English language learner programs, $5 million for early literacy training, and $4.5 million for Central Services professional development.

Overall Assessment

This bill’s actual changes are four technical dollar insertions that specify federal grant and endowment fund contributions totaling approximately $260.9 million within an existing $3.13 billion education appropriation framework. The insertions increase Idaho’s reliance on federal funding for public schools—particularly $249.6 million in federal grants flowing to the Children’s Programs Division—which conflicts with the principle of limiting federal financial entanglement in state education. Beyond that fiscal dependency concern, the changes are accounting clarifications that do not alter how schools, teachers, or students are served.

The bill receives a total score of -1, driven entirely by a minor negative rating under the Responsibility in Government metric. The heavy reliance on federal grant funding embedded in this appropriation raises a concern about fiscal accountability and the strings that accompany federal dollars in state education budgets. All other metrics are unaffected, as the bill’s narrow technical amendments do not touch education policy, family issues, health, natural resources, or any other substantive policy domain evaluated under Idaho’s conservative principles.