A proposed $50 million bill that is expected to be introduced to the Idaho Legislature this session would give up to $5,000 in tax breaks to families who send their students to private schools.

Details of the Parental Choice Tax Credit program were announced Friday by Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian and co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle and Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls.

The bill would create a refundable tax credit to cover private school tuition and fees, tutoring and transportation, according to a Friday news release.

“Many parents I represent as well as those across the state have shared how concerned they are that they don't have access to school options," Hartog said in the release. "They often feel lost and helpless, especially when they cannot afford to attend a different school, and their zoned public school is not meeting their children’s needs. Every family in our state should be able to provide their children with an education that meets their unique needs.”

Education leaders in North Idaho have mixed feelings about this bill.

“I think most school leaders in the state of Idaho are certainly not opposed to school choice and opportunities for parents to do different things,” Coeur d'Alene School District Superintendent Shon Hocker said Friday.

Although he is not opposed to school choice, he said, he is opposed to taxpayer dollars paying for that choice.

“That’s obviously a challenge,” Hocker said. “I love my membership at the gym, I love to golf and fish. Should I ask the taxpayers of Idaho to pay for that? I think we have to be cautious with what we’re wanting to fund as a state.”

He said Gov. Brad Little is dedicated to public education and doing some great work with initiatives like the Idaho LAUNCH program, which Coeur d’Alene's students are taking advantage of. Through Idaho LAUNCH, high school seniors can apply to have up to $8,000 of tuition covered for in-demand careers over two years at eligible institutions.

“That's a good use of taxpayer dollars to fund those kinds of scholarships and opportunities, and it’s a huge benefit to our business industry and our communities as a whole," Hocker said, adding that Idaho needs students to pursue those hard-to-fill positions in health care, different trades and vocational careers.

"To me, that is taxpayer dollars well spent," he said.

He said he doesn't think giving a tax credit to individuals to send their kids to private schools is of any benefit to the taxpayers of Idaho.

He said Little has also done great work by increasing teacher salaries and other commitments to public education.

“And that is to be commended,” Hocker said. “But there is a lot of work yet to do. Idaho is still dead last in the country in educational funding. How can we be proud of that? I’m proud of our kids and our staff and our students here in our district. We’re a top-performing school district in about every category that’s measured in the state. I just think of all the incredible things we could do if funding were a little more focused in Idaho in the right places.”

He said any of these kinds of ventures, such as vouchers or tax credits for private schools, are at risk of taking money away from public education.

“I don’t think most superintendents would be super excited about that,” he said.

This legislation is being proposed following years of failed attempts by Idaho Republicans to use public tax dollars for private schooling. Several new ideas are expected to be floated this session.

“Vouchers and voucher-like mechanisms, such as education savings accounts (ESAs), have also divided the Legislature’s GOP supermajority,” Ryan Suppe of Idaho Education News reported Thursday. “Last year, a handful of Republicans on the House Education Committee stalled momentum for education savings account legislation from the Senate.”

Idaho Democrats as well as teachers and those who represent public school boards staunchly oppose voucher mechanisms for fear they would drain limited public school funds, Suppe reported.

“They are budget busters,” Quinn Perry, policy and government affairs director for the Idaho School Boards Association, said in the Idaho Education News article. “We don’t have to look very far to see where our neighboring states in the union have really struggled to actually keep up with these.”

Holy Family Catholic School in Coeur d’Alene is a tuition-based institution with fees that vary. For one child in kindergarten through eighth grade who is an active registered Catholic, that tuition is $6,825 for a school year, while tuition for the same age for a non-Catholic student is $7,600. The school offers tuition assistance and a fair share/stewardship tuition program that provides opportunities for families to share their time and talents to cover tuition.

“As Catholic schools we support school choice initiatives,” Holy Family Catholic School Principal Sue Styren said Monday via email.

Post Falls School District Superintendent Dena Naccarato said Idaho has a constitutional obligation to fund public schools.

"The idea of providing tax relief to those who do not send their children to public schools further burdens an already underfunded system," she said.

Currently, there are no transparency or accountability standards for many schools of choice, Naccarato said.

"If the Legislature chooses to propose a bill such as this, public educators would like to see the same accountability and transparency stipulations required of public schools applied to all," she said. "These include, but are not limited to, teacher certification, required state and federal reporting, and standardized testing for students."

Public schools serve all children, Naccarato said.

"Unlike schools of choice, public schools do not and cannot deny children with challenges the opportunity for an education," she said.

    Naccarato