“Idaho School Fees Challenged As Unconstitutional”

An Idaho grandfather and former school district superintendent is suing the state of Idaho and all its school districts, charging that cash-strapped schools are violating the Idaho Constitution by increasingly charging fees for what are supposed to be “free, common schools.”

Russ Joki’s twin kindergartner granddaughters were each charged $45 to register for kindergarten this year, and his grandson, a high school junior, had to pay $85 in fees to enroll at Meridian High. But a 1970 Idaho Supreme Court decision specifically found educational fees for public schools unconstitutional in the state.

“I don’t think it passes the constitutional test at all,” Joki said, “and I think someone has to raise that question.”

Read more at: www.spokesman.com