Background/Footnotes: In 1998, with passage of House Bill 517, Idaho became the 30th state to enact a charter school law.[1] The measure authorized chartering for as many as 12 new schools per year for the first five years following the legislation's enactment. The law stipulates that teachers in charter schools must be certified.[2]

In 2000, H.B. 686 was introduced to provide tax credits to individuals and corporations that donated funds to help support students in private schools. Individuals would have received a credit of up to $250 in the first year after the bill was enacted, and the maximum credit for individuals would have increased to $1,000 by 2006. Corporations would have received an initial credit of up to $1,000 per year, which would have risen to a maximum of $10,000 by 2006. The bill died in committee.[3]

In 2001, the Idaho House of Representatives passed H.B. 311, which would have provided tax credits of up to $1,000 for individuals and $10,000 for corporations for donations to support students attending a private school. The bill died in the State Senate.[4]

Governor Dirk Kempthorne signed S.B. 1132, which allows charter schools to appeal a local school board's decision to revoke or refuse a  revision of a school's charter.[5]

In 2003, the House passed H.B. 346 to allow community colleges, universities, and other nonprofit entities to charter schools. Currently, the local school board is the only chartering authority. The bill did not proceed in the Senate, however. H.B. 255, which exempts charter school property from taxation, was signed into law.[6]

In the spring of 2004, Governor Kempthorne proposed to improve Idaho's charter law by creating a "state charter commission" to review charter applications denied by local boards.[7] He later signed S.B. 1444, which included his proposal. The commission began reviewing petitions in July.[8]

A series of other laws passed in the Idaho legislature during the spring of 2004 made minor changes to the laws that govern charter schools concerning such things as the charter school's bylaws, transportation, teacher employment, and attendance areas.[9]

Also in 2004, state Senator Joe Stegner (R- District 7) proposed S.B. 1233, which would have targeted home schooling families by making parents automatically guilty of a misdemeanor if they failed to enroll their child in school or to have him "comparably instructed." However, the resulting opposition led Senator Stegner to withdraw his bill.[10]

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