It is our understanding this bill will be voted on by the Senate Wednesday Feb. 24. Your action is needed 2/22-2/23. LWVID has contacted senators in support of this bill. As always, the president speaks for the League. You will speak on your behalf. 

Please email or phone your state senator in support of this bill. Find their contact information here: https://legislature.idaho.gov/legislators/whosmylegislator/?address=

Bill  S1109  - Idaho Promise Mentor Program

Description: State Board of Education will administer volunteer mentors to build relationships with high school students and families to help them overcome financial and other barriers to earning post-secondary apprenticeships, job training certificates, and associate and associate of applied science degrees. Need $380,500 per year administrative costs (7 Positions) and will accept grants/gifts/funds. 

League position:  – Support -The League supports career and vocational education as well as improvements in career guidance. This bill will impact student access to and success in career technical education, job training, and post-secondary apprenticeships. Volunteer mentors will help mentees and their families apply for financial assistance such as Pell Grants and other funding to further their training and education.

S1109 will positively impact student access to and success in career technical education, job training, and post-secondary apprenticeships. At an initial cost of $380,500, the Idaho Promise Mentor Program is a low-cost approach to moving the needle on the state’s postsecondary attainment goals, increasing the number of credentialed workers living in Idaho communities, and, most importantly, supporting the personal and career goals of its citizens. 

Talking Points:

An Immediate Need

• Additional mentorship and support for transitioning into and through career-ready postsecondary training and education. Sixty-five percent of all jobs now require some form of postsecondary credential.
• Only 38% of Idaho’s 2020 high school graduates entered a postsecondary certificate or degree program in the fall of that year.
• The Idaho State Board of Education has considered abandoning its goal to have 60% of Idahoans hold some form of postsecondary training or education credential (currently at 35%). The board has suggested that after 11 years of trying, Idaho may never be able to achieve this goal.

Potential impact of the Idaho Promise Mentor Program

• Private-sector employers, employees, and community members are suited to mentor students wishing to enter career-ready postsecondary credential programs. They can describe the world of work, the steps necessary to earn a good-paying job, and what it takes to work and live in their home community.
• Seventy-six percent of at-risk young adults who have a private-sector community mentor, aspire to enroll in and graduate from college versus 56% of at-risk young adults who have no mentor.
• Young adults who face an opportunity gap but have a private-sector community mentor are 55% more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor.
• Forty-five percent of all at-risk youth with a private-sector community mentor are enrolled in some form of postsecondary education as opposed to 29% of at-risk youth who are enrolled but never had a mentor.
• Brief, low-cost information interventions can increase college enrollment by as much as five percentage points for high-achieving, low-income students.
• Recent estimates suggest that students with a private-sector community mentor are 9% more likely to persist to postsecondary graduation than non-mentored students.