Real School Choice

When Idaho became a state in 1890, it’s first constitution had a provision that allowed the state legislature to compel that all children ages 6 to 18 attend the public schools of the state for a total of 3 years. This original constitutional requirement envisioned public schooling for two consecutive months of each year and a total of three months every year, accumulating between the ages of 6 to 18 to the total of 3 years in public school attendance.

The constitution was then amended only once in 1972, in which the 3 years of total attendance was struck in favor of what we now experience in a typical public-school year - 9 months a year of classes in session.

Currently, Section 9 of Article IX of Idaho’s constitution reads:

“The legislature may require by law that every child attend the public schools of the state, throughout the period between the ages of 6 and 18 years, unless educated by other means, as provided by law.”

In the early 1980’s, the Shippy family was jailed in Payette County Idaho for failing to send their children to the public schools, opting instead to homeschool. The actions of jailing the Shippy parents set off a decades-long effort that resulted in a complete reform of Idaho’s statutes regarding public schooling attendance versus other forms of education like private school, parochial school, tutoring and homeschooling.

The statutes were amended in 1992, 2009 and 2015. In 2015 the rights of parents to be wholly responsible for the direction of the education of their children was codified into Idaho law with the overwhelming passage of House Bill 113. 83 of Idaho’s 105 senators and representatives, all Republicans, voted in favor of House Bill 113 ten years ago.

The idea that the state of Idaho would compel every child to only attend the government run schools of the state is now abhorrent to a free society and the concept of ordered liberty and individual rights.

Idaho is a leader among the states when it comes to respecting freedom of education in our statutes. This year in the current legislative session, Representative Dale Hawkins, a Republican and a member of the Idaho Freedom Caucus is sponsoring the ultimate school choice measure that recognizes Idaho’s strength and will make it a beacon to other states for the freedom of parents to choose the best education they see fit for their own families.

Representative Hawkins has filed a constitutional amendment, HJR1, that will strike from Idaho’s constitution the antiquated concept that the state’s legislature would ever force all children to attend the government’s schools.

In its place, HJR1 inserts the following into the Idaho constitution:

“The right of the people to educate their children without government regulation outside of the public schools of the state shall not be infringed.”

While this freedom of educational choice is already respected in Idaho’s statutes and its culture, placing it in the constitution will make Idaho the leading state in the nation for school choice and will help ensure that future generations of Idahoans will continue to enjoy the freedoms gained by the many Idahoans who have fought to secure school choice in Idaho over the last 45 years.

To pass, HJR1 will require the support of 2/3 of the Idaho House and 2/3 of the Senate. It would then go to the voters in the general election of November 2026. Please encourage your state representatives and senators to support HJR1.

HJR1 is true school choice without any cost to Idaho’s taxpayers and without implementing any complex programs or bureaucracies.