By Chris Cargill, President, Mountain States Policy Center | Originally published at MSPC
From Coeur d’Alene to Pocatello, hundreds of parents have been turning out for the Idaho Kids Win town halls to learn more about the state’s new parental choice tax credit, armed with a desire to improve the educational outcomes for their kids. These are moms and dads who work hard, juggle bills, and make daily sacrifices because they care deeply about their children’s education. They come with questions—good ones. They come to listen, to understand, and to figure out what this new program might mean for their families.
Unfortunately, a very different group is showing up too. They aren’t coming to listen. They are there to agitate.
While parents sit patiently with notebooks and questions in hand, the activists sit waiting for their next opportunity to jeer, interrupt, or hijack the microphone. The difference between the two groups couldn’t be clearer: one wants answers, the other wants a scene.
One Idaho mother of four described walking into a meeting hopeful—grateful, even—for the chance to ask questions and bring accurate information back to other families at her school. Instead, she found a room where a handful of loud voices seemed determined to make sure no one else could speak.
When panelists affirmed that parents know best what their children need, some activists openly groaned or even yelled. One even said, “parents are just not smart enough.” That statement alone reveals everything: these folks aren’t there for constructive dialogue. They don’t believe parents are capable of making decisions, and they resent that the conversation includes them at all.
Meanwhile, real parents—like the one who told me she wanted to ask a question but felt intense pressure from activists nearby to stay quiet—are being intimidated into silence. Another parent walked away believing she wouldn’t be allowed to speak at all. That is unacceptable.
At the Pocatello town hall, one attendee openly complained that parent questions would come before her prepared political statements. Think about that for a moment. A meeting designed to help families understand a program meant for families somehow became offensive to someone who showed up not to learn, but to give a speech.
Parents want clarity. Activists want a stage.
Parents want help navigating their children’s needs. Activists want a viral moment.
Parents want facts about how the program works. Activists want to grill legislators with gotcha questions and then deride them for not playing along.
Most parents are grateful for these opportunities. Most families leave feeling even more determined to participate.
But there are some parents who leave feeling discouraged, believing their voices don’t matter. Others felt they couldn’t speak freely without angering the activists around them. Instead of community dialogue, they faced hostility. Instead of clarity, they encountered chaos.
And that chaos serves only one purpose: to prevent families from getting help. And to prevent any change in the educational landscape of the state.
The Parental Choice Tax Credit program was designed to give parents options—especially parents who have struggled to find the right learning environment for their children. Whether you support the program or oppose it, silencing parents at events created for them should never be acceptable.
Idaho is a place where we pride ourselves on neighbors helping neighbors, on civil debate, and on respecting one another—even when we disagree. But what we’ve seen at some of these town halls is the opposite: intimidation, hostility, and contempt toward parents who simply want information.
Parents should not need courage to ask a question about their child’s education.
They should not have to endure someone telling them they’re “not smart enough” to make decisions for their own kids.
And they certainly should not be pressured into silence by activists whose goal is to shut down discussion rather than contribute to it.
The families showing up at these events deserve better. They deserve respect. They deserve the right to speak freely. And they deserve answers—real answers, not shouting matches or political theater.
A small group of agitators may be determined to intimidate parents, but the rest of Idaho shouldn’t let them. These meetings belong to families. The conversation belongs to the community. And the future belongs to the children whose education is at stake, not the adults who believe their political interests should come first.
About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
