By Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield
(BOISE) – Last year when I was pressed to identify cuts to our public schools, I declined. I knew schools couldn’t sustain mid-year cuts, let alone ongoing reductions. When I submit a K-12 public school budget, it comes after months of consideration and work, informed by where schools are financially and what they need.
In the background of this back-to-school season, my team and I have been preparing that budget. Everything we see at the surface of our schools – buses transporting students, teachers welcoming kids to their classrooms, and students learning and succeeding – is fueled by the dollars allocated through the K-12 public school budget.
Preparing it is a huge responsibility, and in this tight fiscal environment, we had to be agile in finding money and allocating it effectively. We have to look at the pot of money available and find the most efficient ways to use it so districts and charters can maximize their appropriation for the betterment of their students and communities.
Here are some things I’d like Idahoans to know about this year’s requested K-12 budget:
We prepared this budget knowing that the one-time funding the Legislature appropriated to support high-needs students in FY27 was just that: one-time. Amidst cutbacks and reductions, we successfully funded a new policy with interest from existing accounts. That matters. We were very clear that this wasn’t the long-term fix and that we’d return with another request tied to interest.
We had to work again this year to secure funding for FY28. That work meant funding for high-needs students was $1.7 million, rather than zero. Our commitment is unchanged, but the current funding mechanism requires us to return to the negotiation table to receive any support for this much-needed fund.
That broken mechanism – the reason we’re negotiating one-time funding instead of ongoing support – is one of the most important issues this budget begins to address. During the 2026 legislative session, my department and I had countless conversations about overhauling Idaho’s public school funding formula, created in 1994.
Revising that formula to get the right funding into the right places will help solve problems for high-needs students, our educators, and our educational communities. It will create a flow of money that reflects today’s needs, not 1994’s.
To say that work will not come with growing pains would be naïve. That’s why we’re asking for $20 million in new operational funding. Operational funding allows schools to address a variety of needs and, most importantly, is the largest source of dollars used to fund special education services. Your child’s classroom should not have to endure these growing pains. This budget request helps ensure it won’t.
This request should also assure taxpayers of one thing: we remain committed to supporting students who need more to succeed while moving toward a solution that eliminates the need for one-time asks and constant negotiation. We want a funding formula that works for Idaho’s modern classrooms, and this budget request is an important step in that direction.
The Gem State Chronicle delivers daily analysis, op-eds, press releases, and Idaho Insider updates — free to your inbox.
Free newsletter · Unsubscribe anytime · View on Substack
About Debbie Critchfield
Debbie Critchfield was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction in November 2022 and was sworn in on January 2, 2023. Previously, she served as a seven-year member of the Idaho State Board of Education and was president during her final two years. Debbie was co-chair to Governor Little’s Education Task Force in 2019 and committee chair for Governor Otter’s Higher Education Task Force in 2017. She chaired the Re-Open Idaho Schools Committee in 2020 and was a member of the Governor’s K-12 Council.
