Boise (670 KBOI News) – Depending on who you talk to — and what kind of criteria they use — Idaho either has the worst schools in the nation, or schools that are about middle of the pack nationwide, and improving.
At Saturday’s 670 KBOI/CBS-2 TV debate, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan, and her Republican opponent, Brad Little, traded their thoughts on Idaho’s schools.
Little said Idaho’s parents, teachers and kids are working hard, and doing a great job, and cited ACT scores as an example.
“Your average score in Idaho is better than every surrounding state around us,” said Little. “Our reading scores, our math scores are all going up. Today, Idaho is the leading state in increasing teacher pay. But to criticize our teachers, our students, our parents, that says that we’re 50th, I categorically reject that.”
But Jordan said the legislature isn’t spending enough on schools.
“We have rising costs with inflation. We have rising costs with enrollment increases,” said Jordan. “And yet, we have done nothing more to ensure that education funding is increased to support not only the infrastructure, but teacher pay, which needs to be competitive, not last in the nation.”
When asked about a comment Jordan made on 670 KBOI’s Nate Shelman Show, about her being the only real American and Idahoan in the race, Jordan said while Little says he’s a third generation Idahoan, she’s technically a 3,000th generation Idahoan. She recently defended the claim in an interview with the Coeur d’Alene Press. Click here to read that article.
Little said whether your family goes back 7,000 generations, or you’ve been here 7 months, you’re an Idahoan.
