Battle Over School Choice Heating Up

By Greg Pruett • January 8, 2025

School choice may end up being the hottest topic of 2025.

The topic of school choice has been ongoing nationwide for several years now. Idaho has seen its own effort in recent years, but proposals have not yet made Governor Brad Little’s desk.

Little mentioned school choice in his State of the State address and said he wants $50 million to be set aside for expanded education choice. Little insisted that the money be accountable and fair. Little also seemed to indicate that there would be some necessary regulations involved with school choice, which could mean testing requirements, teacher certifications or education requirements, and/or specific curriculum sets.

Shortly after Little’s address, Rep. Wendy Horman (R-Idaho Falls) announced a $50 million proposal for an education tax credit. A family could request a $5,000 credit to go toward education outside the public school system. There would be some government oversight in the proposal but the details of her oversight or sideboards have not been publicly released at this time.

Another proposal floating around would be a tax credit for Idahoans with no sideboards and a larger credit than Horman’s proposal. The details of this proposal have also not been released publicly at this time.

Proponents of school choice say the options for parents to put their money where they choose will help create better competition, increasing the quality of education broadly in all institutions.

There is opposition to the education choice push coming from several different angles.

First, there is opposition from groups and lawmakers who do not believe that taxpayer money should be given for funding that goes to private institutions or is used for those who choose to homeschool. Second, some homeschool organizations are opposed to the idea of education choice because they fear it will lead to the government regulating homeschooling in Idaho.

Homeschool organizations, such as Homeschool Idaho, fought school choice last year and say they will fight it again this year.

Do you support school choice legislation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.