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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Little's State of the State Address Emphasizes Education Spending in ID

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Tuesday, January 10, 2023   

Governor Brad Little kicked off the 2023 legislative session with his State of the State address and an Idaho teachers' organization is applauding his emphasis on education spending. Little called for an increase of $145-million in teachers' pay, which he said would give every teacher in the state a raise of more than $6,300.

Mike Journee, communications director for the Idaho Education Association, said the increased wages are sorely needed.

"We've seen a huge exodus of certified educators from Idaho public schools and more are considering leaving," he said. "This proposal is going to go a long way to help stanch that. It's going to go a long way to turn that tide around and help that."

Journee said teachers have suffered from low morale in the past few years. Along with low pay, he said they have suffered as pawns in the culture wars that have raged during the pandemic. During a speech to the Legislature last year, the Idaho Education Association's president said more than half of the state's educators were considering leaving the profession.

In a September special session, lawmakers passed legislation that directs $330-million to public school education each year, but left it to lawmakers in the 2023 session to implement it.

Journee said Little has been adamant about how that money should be spent.

"That's what lawmakers are going to be deliberating this year - how to spend that $330 million - and his proposal is to put much of it into investing in our educators, which we think is a fantastic idea because of the impact that they have in the classroom and because of the impact they have on our students' lives," he said.

In his State of the State speech, Little also proposed that lawmakers set aside money to held reduce local property tax rates and $1-bilion for infrastructure projects. Idaho legislative sessions have no set end date. In November, voters approved a resolution that allows the Legislature to call itself back into session at any time.


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