Help place education initiative on the November ballot

Federal officials say schools in novel coronavirus “hot spots” could require distance-learning. As of mid-July, three in four Idaho students lived in areas that meet that definition.

We are a hot spot. The carriers who brought the virus will leave, but the virus will stay here and spread.

According to a survey of 600 Idaho parents, if schools must close again, they expect schools to be better prepared to facilitate distance learning. (That means more computers, more instructor salaries, more internet-related costs; more materials and supplies.)

Meanwhile, Governor Brad Little has cut state school funding by $99 million. Another cut is expected soon. Without funding, we cannot offer students a safe learning environment, much less a quality public education, which is their constitutional right under the Idaho Constitution.

If you are in favor of getting our children back to school this fall AND keeping them safe from COVID, please sign Reclaim Idaho’s education funding initiative — https://www.reclaimidaho.org — which would put the funding question in front of all Idaho’s citizens on the November ballot.

In this time of many crises and much uncertainty, the only safe thing to do is to let us decide what’s best for our children.

NANCY GERTH

Sagle