FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2026
As IDLA Faces Proposed Budget Cuts, New National Report Highlights the Essential Role of State Virtual Programs
Boise, ID – As lawmakers consider the Governor’s request to reduce the Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA) budget by $10 million, a newly released national report provides important context for understanding IDLA’s role in Idaho’s public education system.
The Value of State Virtual Programs: How States Use Online Learning to Expand Access, Address Gaps, and Support Local Schools, released in February 2026 by The Community Advancing Digital Learning (DLAC), examines how states across the country use virtual learning strategically to strengthen local schools and expand opportunity. The report features IDLA as a leading example of how a state-supported virtual program can expand access while preserving local control.
According to the report, state virtual programs are not emergency remote instruction and are not private online schools operating outside public oversight. Instead, they are intentional state investments designed to solve challenges individual districts cannot address alone. In Idaho, where many districts operate small high schools across vast geographic areas, that role is particularly significant.
The report highlights how IDLA provides options, such as Dual Credit and credit recovery, statewide, creating capacity for courses that schools could not sustainably staff on their own. Students remain enrolled in their local schools, supported by onsite mentors, while accessing certified instructors through a statewide system. This model allows Idaho to expand opportunity without consolidating schools, duplicating specialized staff, or shifting students away from their home districts.
Idaho’s Advanced Opportunities framework further illustrates how IDLA functions as part of the statewide education infrastructure. By coordinating with districts and postsecondary partners, IDLA helps ensure that college and career-aligned coursework is available beyond larger population centers. The report notes that this type of statewide coordination is difficult to replicate through district-by-district partnerships alone.
The study also cautions policymakers against confusing high-quality online learning with pandemic-era emergency instruction. Well-designed online programs such as IDLA are built specifically for digital delivery, staffed by educators trained in online pedagogy, and implemented intentionally rather than under crisis conditions.
Across the country, state virtual programs are increasingly serving as strategic tools to strengthen rural access, advance workforce-aligned pathways, support professional learning, fill local learning gaps, and provide expertise to help states navigate emerging issues, such as the responsible and ethical integration of artificial intelligence in education. The report concludes that while these programs represent a relatively small share of total education spending, they generate significant statewide benefits by ensuring that geography, staffing limitations, or district size do not determine student opportunity. As Idaho’s state virtual program, IDLA is also the only supplemental online learning option available to students that is fully transparent and accountable to the public.
As budget discussions continue in Idaho, the report provides national evidence that programs like IDLA are not duplicative systems, but core public infrastructure designed to support local schools and expand access for students statewide.
To read the full report, visit: https://www.deelac.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/DLAC_Value_State_Virtual_Programs.pdf
MEDIA CONTACT
Valerie Doherty
IDLA Communication Manager
208-989-7733
valerie.doherty@idla.org
ABOUT IDLA
The Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA) is the state-sponsored, accredited online school serving students across Idaho. Since 2002, IDLA has been dedicated to providing flexible, high-quality educational opportunities that align with Idaho Core Content Standards.
For more information about IDLA and its programs, visit idla.org, Instagram, Facebook, or contact us at idla@idla.org.
