State of Disrepair
Inside Idaho’s Crumbling Schools
Idaho spends less, per student, on schools than any other state. Restrictive policies created a funding crisis that’s left rural schools with collapsing roofs, deteriorating foundations and freezing classrooms.
Featured Posts in this Series
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Falling Apart
Students and educators in Idaho show us what it’s like when a state fails to fund school repairs.
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Collapsing Roofs, Broken Toilets, Flooded Classrooms: Inside the Worst-Funded Schools in the Nation
Idaho spends less on schools per student than any other state. Kids are sweating, freezing and struggling to learn.
Series Timeline
April 13, 2023
We documented how restrictive policies in Idaho made it difficult for school districts to raise funds for construction and repairs, leaving students to learn in freezing classrooms and overcrowded schools.
Sept. 6, 2023
We showed how a state fund to fix unsafe schools had gone largely unused. One district had received only a fraction of what it needed after six bond elections in seven years failed.
Dec. 14, 2023
We revealed how prominent lawmakers were discussing a proposal to make it easier for school districts to repair and replace their aging buildings by lowering the required threshold for bond votes to pass.
Dec. 15, 2023
Hundreds of students, parents, educators and others — including 91% of the state’s superintendents — told us what it’s like to have schools with flooded classrooms, leaky ceilings, failing plumbing and discolored drinking water.
Jan. 8, 2024
In his State of the State address, Gov. Brad Little called for $2 billion in state funding to help schools repair or replace their buildings, declaring it “priority No. 1.”
March 21, 2024
The Legislature approved $1.5 billion in new funding and redirected an additional $500 million, which the governor said was the largest investment in school facilities in state history.
April 9, 2024
We reported on how the Idaho Freedom Foundation used a state election law to make it harder for school districts to pass bonds and levies to fix their buildings.
May 21, 2024
For the first time in two decades, voters in the Salmon School District in remote Central Idaho approved a bond to build a new school.
16 stories published since 2023
