Soda Springs Area Schools (Idaho Falls: rent, how much, home)

[oxotx]

I'm considering relocating to the Soda Springs area, I want some opinions of the quality of the schools in the area I don't think I want to commute from pocatello but would concider the other small towns near Soda Springs if the schools are significantly better. (my children are both elementary age)

[banjomike]

Soda Springs is a mini-metro of its own; its a small town, but large enough to supply even smaller towns all around it.
I think the best info you could get would be from the Soda Springs website:

Soda Springs, Idaho *

This would be a good start, anyway. From there, you could learn how to contact the local school district for some statistics, schools, class sizes, etc.

In general, Idaho's education took a steep fall in 2006 when school funding was re-directed, then was followed by 8 years of terrible mismanagement by the states Director of Schools, who spent a lot of our money creating a sweeping overhaul that was finally rejected by a state voter's petition on the matter. The citizens rejected all 3 of the laws that pertained to the drastic change, and the Director didn't run again for the position. We now have a better Director, and our need for improvement is now a hot political issue.

Now, Idaho is re-funding, but we are still not at the 2009 level, the last year when our school system was adequately funded, but not as well as it was before 2006.
We probably won't reach the 2009 level for at least one more year or more, as our legislature is very conservative and doesn't like to spend money on anything very much.
Naturally, this has affected the quality of our education system a lot. The state government is trying to reverse this, and it will change, but it will take time. How much time is anyone's guess right now.

Not all the school districts in the state are equally bad by a long shot. Some are very good, and the size of the district is not a general indicator of the quality of the education in it.

If you click on City-Data's home page, on the top left of your screen, you will find a lot of extended info on Idaho there. This would be a pretty good place, I guess, to start comparisons. We don't have any regular members here on the Idaho forum who live in Soda, but once in a while, someone will drop in with a reply. Don't expect to get much info here, though.

I live in Idaho Falls, and have some friends down there, and have been in the area many times over my life. I like it down there, but I like it better here. That's just me. One of my friends moved there from the Salt Lake City area a while back, and loves it so much that he has made a 200 mile commute ever since- a decade now. He splits the rent on a small place close to his work with some other guys who also moved to Soda during the week, and they all make the same commute, coming home on the weekends.
Not the kind of life for me, but it goes to show how good life there is, compared to Salt Lake City, at least for them.