Two Idaho school districts are gearing up to ask voters for more money this November, and neither wants to talk about whether kids are actually learning anything.

The Coeur d'Alene Public Schools board meets Monday to consider putting a $30.25 million-per-year, two-year levy on the November ballot — a $5.25 million increase over the current $25 million levy, according to the Coeur d'Alene Press. That's a 21% bump. Meanwhile, the Moscow School Board is weighing whether to hit voters with a bond or plant facilities levy that could exceed $100 million for building projects, the Lewiston Morning Tribune reports.

The stake for ordinary Americans is simple: property owners foot the bill, and the education bureaucracy never has to prove the last check actually worked.

In Coeur d'Alene, Board Trustee Rick Rasmussen insisted the district is "the best bang for the buck for taxpayers in Idaho" and called the district "very frugal" and "very transparent." The proposed levy would cost an estimated $110 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value per year — roughly a $19 monthly increase for a home valued at $545,000. The levy funds about a quarter of the district's budget, with $12.3 million pegged for teacher and support staff jobs and $7.1 million for academic programs like electives and AP classes. Rasmussen said the money is needed "to support our future workforce." What he didn't say: whether that workforce is being prepared competently now.

Neither outlet reported any student performance metrics. The Press noted the previous $25 million levy passed the school board unanimously and was approved "overwhelmingly" by Kootenai County voters in 2024 — but offered no evidence those dollars moved the needle on outcomes.

In Moscow, the ask is steeper and the mechanics more convoluted. Superintendent Shawn Tiegs laid out a menu of facility projects totaling well over $150 million: roughly $56 million to move Moscow High School into the existing middle school building, $67 million for a new middle school, $26 million for a new elementary school, plus millions more for HVAC upgrades and district office reshuffling. Tiegs estimated the high school renovation could extend the building's life by 80 years and save more than $100 million compared to building new.

The catch: a bond requires a two-thirds supermajority, and Tiegs acknowledged no school bond has passed in Idaho in the past two years. A plant facilities levy only needs 55% to 60%, depending on the ask — but doles out money in yearly increments over up to a decade, exposing projects to inflation Tiegs called "the biggest risk." Board member Jim Frenzel was blunt: "My personal feeling is there's no way a bond will pass." Board member Brian Kennedy worried a levy would stretch construction out over too many years.

So the strategy is clear — go the lower-threshold route because voters won't swallow the bigger number. The Press framed Coeur d'Alene's ask as responsible stewardship. The Tribune framed Moscow's as pragmatic planning around aging buildings. Neither framed it as what it is: institutions that failed to maintain what they had, now demanding more to fix the decay — with no promise the cycle won't repeat.

The question neither district is answering: if the last levy was essential and the last bond was urgent, why are we back at the trough so soon?