Bluum is a nonprofit organization helping Idaho become a national model for how to maximize learning outcomes for children and families.
The Treasure Valley is one of the country’s fastest-growing regions. Those of us who live here see evidence of this in new construction, traffic jams and long lines at our favorite grocery stores and coffee shops.
Parents across the country like charter public schools, and want more of them. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a national survey of parents last week that shows “78 percent of parents support having a charter public school in their neighborhood and 73 percent support more charter schools opening nationwide.” Further, “an equal number of parents support the idea of allowing parents to choose their child’s public school, regardless of where they live.”
The last 15 years or so has been a busy time for public education in Idaho on at least seven fronts. But what do ordinary Idahoans think about all this?
The needs of Idaho’s K-12 student population are changing. The Gem State is expected to see net growth in lower income households and net declines in households with annual incomes above $50,000. We are also becoming more racially diverse.
Public education is critical to Idahoans. In fact, they are more likely to point to public education (50%) as the most important issue facing Idaho today than they are to point to “the economy” (40%), with another 9% saying it is “the environment.”
The digital age has brought many opportunities to teach in new and innovative ways but a new study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) reports on the academic outcomes for students in online schools across the country and the results are not good.