Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's House has passed a new spending plan for Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra's office that includes funding for a new statewide reading test for young students.
House lawmakers agreed Wednesday to funnel $443,000 to fund the new test, called the Idaho Reading Indicator, after previously killing a prior version of the superintendent's budget proposal last week because the new test was not included.
State budget writers had initially denied Ybarra's request to expand the new test earlier this year because they argued not enough data was available to show the latest version was better than the one currently in place. However, the move sparked criticism from other lawmakers who argued budget writers had overstepped their role.
The early reading test is target toward kindergarten through third-graders students with the intent of identifying students falling behind.
The new budget proposal must now the Senate.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
