[Vision2020] More of the GOP Targeting Our Youth & Economically Challenged Parents

[lfalen]

Genesee charges $165.00, On April 11 there is a public hearing to raise it to $225.00 on May 1. Fees are getting too high. Train your own kids.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Saundra Lund" v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:20:21 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] More of the GOP Targeting Our Youth & Economically Challenged Parents

> The hits just keep coming, and it's absolutely *disgusting* to me the real
> motive behind so many is to improve the lot of for-profit businesses while
> harming the least among us.
> 
> If these GOP legislators had any shame -- which they've proven time & again
> this legislative session that they don't -- they would have, in tandem with
> this hair-brained idea, done away with mandatory driver-training program for
> those under 17.  I know the "quality" of some of these for-profit driving
> schools, and they certainly are no more capable than many parents can do
> without having to shell out $350.  Currently, MHS charges $135, so an
> increase to $350 would be a whopping 40% increase, and increase many
> families could ill-afford  As it is, the rank hypocrisy of the GOP's motive
> is glaringly apparent.
> 
> SL
> 
> http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/03/31/1587391/idaho-house-to-debate-cutti
> ng.html
> 
> March 31, 2011
> Idaho House to debate cutting driver's ed funding
> By JESSIE L. BONNER - Associated Press
> 
> Idaho would no longer help cover the cost of driver's education classes at
> public schools, under a bill before the 2011 Legislature.
> 
> Republican lawmakers advanced legislation Thursday to strip state funding
> from driver's ed classes, essentially ending the $125-per student subsidy
> for programs that have been offered through Idaho's public schools since
> 1948. The bulk of the money would be redirected into a public school rainy
> day account.
> 
> The changes would leave either students or schools to pick up the slack.
> Idaho's wannabe teen drivers already pay $180 to $200 of the total $325 cost
> of driver's ed classes, according to lawmakers behind the measure.
> 
> Republican Rep. Steve Thayn of Emmett contends his bill aims to spur debate
> about education spending.
> 
> "It's a matter of priorities," he said. "Should we continue to subsidize
> each student that takes driver's training from a public school or reallocate
> those funds back into the classroom?"
> 
> Student fees covered roughly half the total $2.3 million cost of public
> driver's education courses in Idaho schools last year. The state reimbursed
> school districts for the remaining $1.3 million, at a rate of $125 per
> student enrolled in the training courses, using money collected from
> driver's license fees.
> 
> The Republican-dominated House Education Committee advanced Thyan's bill on
> a party-line vote.
> 
> Critics, primarily Democrats, contend the legislation jeopardizes access to
> public driver's training courses and will put the cost out of reach for some
> families.
> 
> "Our rural students are driving and they have a lot of responsibilities,
> especially in our farming areas. They need to have the training," said
> Democratic Rep. Donna Pence of Gooding.
> 
> State law requires anyone under age 17 applying for a driver's license to
> complete a driver-training program. About 10,000 students took public
> driver's ed courses in Idaho school districts last year, according to the
> state Department of Education.
> 
> Supporters of the changes included operators of private driver's ed
> businesses, who contend the subsidies for public driver's ed programs create
> an uneven playing field. Private driver's ed courses cost between $325 and
> $350, lawmakers said.
> 
> "You're subsidizing a product that's in direct competition to free
> enterprise," said Kim Hatch, whose family operates Hatch's Drivers Training
> in Meridian.
> 
> Democratic Rep. Susan Chew of Boise countered that the programs were about
> safety.
> 
> "I thought that the reason we were subsidizing it, is so when I get out in
> my car I don't have to run into a crazy kid that hasn't been trained," Chew
> said.
> 
> 
> 
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