Idaho: Legislature makes "no progress" addressing $100M SPED debt
- The end of childhood
- 3 days ago
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Jan 7, 2026, Idaho News: The top five education issues EdNews will follow in 2026
Special education
Last year, the Legislature made no progress addressing an $82.2 million gap in special education funding for K-12 public schools. Now, the problem has grown to $100 million, and the aforementioned budget deficit has already stalled one plan to chip away at it.
State superintendent Debbie Critchfield last month hit pause on her $50 million special education block grant proposal. The Republican has other — cheaper — ideas: launching regional special education support centers and creating a high-needs student account by shifting money from other programs.
Sound familiar? Lawmakers narrowly rejected a proposal to create a $3 million high-needs fund last session. The defeating vote came a couple weeks after the nonpartisan Office of Performance Evaluations released a report that showed the state’s special education funding model is falling short of supporting all students.
Increasing this support is the top priority for public school trustees heading into legislative session. The Idaho School Boards Association (ISBA) last month adopted a resolution that pointed to rising costs of “personnel, specialized transportation, assistive technology, individualized instructional materials, and required staffing ratios.”
“This state needs to have a serious and meaningful conversation about what it’s doing … when it comes to funding special education,” Perry said.
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