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Friday, March 25, 2011

Bill Would Take Millions From Drivers Ed

The Spokesman-Review's Eye on Boise blog is reporting that the Idaho House will debate a plan to strip millions in funding from driver's education classes, essentially ending a subsidy for programs offered through public schools.

Republican Rep. Steve Thayn of Emmett says his bill, introduced Friday in the House Education Committee, would boost the private share of driver's ed classes to $325. It sits at about $200 now.

The measure would redirect $2.2 million annually to the public school rainy day account and $100,000 to the Idaho Transportation Department. Another $1 million now in an account for the driver's training programs would be returned to Idaho state government's general fund. Thayn says these changes would likely spur private driver's ed businesses, but insists his main goal is to have a debate about spending priorities.

I know a lot of folks who are already having a hard time scraping up $200 for drivers ed considering the state of the economy. But then again, is it really a priority in your household that your teenager be able to drive? What are your thoughts on this?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not a priority-if you can afford to drive,then you can pay for drivers ed.

KMPO Staff said...

That's a good point. When you add up the costs of driving- car payments, insurance, gas, upkeep, fancy gadgets like bluetooth through the stereo, etc. then I guess the cost of driver's ed is pretty small in comparison.