Layoffs could affect service — including firefighting — at INW national forests
Both the Idaho Panhandle and Colville National Forests are losing employees due to the Trump administration layoffs.
But neither district wanted to say how many workers are being let go.
A long-time Idaho Panhandle Forest employee told SPR News 37 people have been let go there.
The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of professional retaliation, says many of them had been seasonal employees for several years before being hired full time.
In a statement, USDA spokesperson Larry Moore told SPR that about 2,000 “probationary” workers were let go nationwide.
While probationary can refer to employees who had been with the agency for less than a year, it also includes long-term workers who had received promotions but were still in a probationary period.
The national spokesman says none of those let go performed firefighting duties.
But the anonymous source said many of those workers were authorized to do firefighting work and had been called on to do so in the past.
The source also told SPR News some were employed to mark timber sales and said some timber will remain unsold to private parties because of the layoffs.
Another affected area may be campgrounds. According to the employee, six of the eight employees who do campground maintenance on the Coeur d'Alene river district were let go, which the source said may result in some campgrounds there will be closed this year.
Spokane schools, parks plan collaborative projects and November funding asks
Spokane schools and parks officials have unveiled a series of projects on which they plan to collaborate over the next several years.
Those include school projects that would include new and improved parks across the city. They would be paid for by public money raised through a school bond issue and a property tax levy for Spokane parks. Both are expected to be decided by voters in November.
School and city officials say combining public resources with private donations raised for individual projects — almost $11 million so far — will allow the entities to maximize the impact.
“I see this as the third phase in a series of collaborations," he said, referring to past projects that combined streets and park projects and school and library projects," said Councilman Michael Cathcart.
"Now here we are with the phase 3, which is an even bigger, more amazing partnership that is going to result in so much value for our community."
The projects include installing lights and new outdoor play fields at several parks, an indoor aquatics center at Spokane Community College and an indoor tennis complex at Shadle Park High School.
Mayor Lisa Brown said the partnership between the school district and the Parks Department will provide more opportunities for people to be active and participate in the community.
“It impacts every neighborhood. All 29 neighborhoods get a project in this. No one is left out and all our parks will see improvements," she said.
ID constitutional education requirement to stay in place
Idaho’s mandatory school attendance laws remain in place for now. A proposed constitutional amendment to repeal that requirement failed in the House by a single vote.
The measure would’ve ensured a parent’s right to homeschool their child without government interference.
"It says that the state can’t authorize anyone to come into your home and tell you where to send your kids to school," amendment lead sponsor and Republican Rep. Dale Hawkins said.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Todd Achilles feared the proposal would’ve opened the door for some parents to not educate their kids.
"We would be the only state in the nation without compulsory education," he said. "That’s an area where I don’t want to lead.”
Idaho law requires kids between 7 and 16 to attend some kind of school. And it requires homeschoolers to teach subjects widely taught in public schools.
That provision could’ve been invalidated had the measure passed, according to those who voted against the amendment.
WA superintendent vows to protect school DEI programs
Washington’s top education leader is pushing back against the federal government’s efforts to terminate DEI programs.
This comes days after the Department of Education sent a letter to colleges and K-12 schools, giving them two weeks to end all, quote, “race-based” programs – or risk losing federal funding.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal says the letter does not "hold the power of the law," and he urged schools to hold firm on their equity and inclusion practices.
"DEI is not a harmful thing. It's a good thing," Reykdal said. "We cannot allow the federal government to take money away from the state of Washington on a right that is clearly in the states and clearly in our local governments and in our communities."
He pointed to existing state laws that ban discrimination in public education on the basis of race, ethnicity, or other factors.
About 7% of Washington’s education budget comes from the feds. Reykdal said his office will work with the state Attorney General to consider legal recourse if federal funding is frozen or withdrawn because of this letter.
Legislators push to add the Bible to Idaho's public school day
A new bill would require Bible reading in Idaho schools if passed into law.
New legislation could require the Bible to be read every morning in public school classrooms across Idaho with the goal to read the Bible in its entirety over ten school years.
Annie Laurie Gaylor is the co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which monitors legislation across the country that might violate the separation of church and state, she said.
If the bill passes, her organization plans to sue.
"The whole thing is, is a poorly thought out attempt to indoctrinate children, and it is totally unconstitutional according to the precedent that we have now," she told NWPB.
Tying the bill into a lawsuit to get it before the Supreme Court might be the plan of the people who crafted the Bible bill, said Gaylor, in the hopes that the conservative-leaning court might loosen restrictions on prayer and religion in public schools.
Another bill put forth this session would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed at any educational institution that receives public funds from the state. That could mean colleges and universities.
Gaylor said her organization would also sue if that bill was passed into law.
Idaho legislators did not return requests for comments.
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Reporting contributed by Steve Jackson, Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson, Sami West and Lauren Paterson.