Sami Edge, Idaho Ed News

State superintendent Sherri Ybarra is asking for a 8.5% increase in state tax dollars for public schools next year, including money for full-day kindergarten and teacher salaries.

The $2.22 billion state general fund request would add $82.8 million to the teacher salary career ladder, and increase operational funding for Idaho districts and charters by 5.3% to offset the rising cost of health insurance and cover inflationary increases, the State Department of Education said in a news release Wednesday.

Wednesday was the deadline for state agencies to turn in budget requests for the 2022-23 budget year, which begins July 1 and runs through June 30, 2023. Gov. Brad Little will introduce his budget recommendations next year, and the Legislature will finalize the budget during the 2022 session.

Devin Bodkin, Idaho Ed News

Beth Oppenheimer can point without hesitation to the worst day of her career as executive director of the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children: March 2, 2021. 

“I fell to the ground, sobbing from the news,” she said. 

House Republicans killed a bill to allow Oppenheimer’s nonprofit to oversee nearly $6 million in federal grants to support and expand preschool education efforts across Idaho. 

She expected pushback from some lawmakers, but all-out rejection of the pre-approved funds rattled Oppenheimer, who has for years been a leading voice for state-funded pre-K despite conservative resistance.