BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Education Association (IEA) responded to Govenor’s Brad Little’s recent executive order calling for state budget holdbacks.
Layne McInelly, IEA President, expressed mixed feelings about the announcement, emphasizing that while the holdbacks were expected due to recent tax cuts, the decision to exclude public schools from these cuts was crucial.
“The governor’s call for state budget holdbacks today is very unfortunate and completely predictable,” McInelly said. He attributed the situation to the Idaho Legislature’s significant tax cuts, which he felt ignored the needs of Idaho’s residents.
McInelly praised Gov. Little for sparing public schools from the budget cuts, highlighting the importance of this decision given the state’s history of underfunding education.
“Further reducing the already spartan funding provided for public schools would have hurt Idaho students and families significantly,” McInelly stated.
IEA members remain supportive of the decision to protect school funding, despite their belief that the need for holdbacks was avoidable.
McInelly emphasized that it was right to shield Idaho’s public school students and classrooms from further financial strain.
The full executive order can be found here.
