The Idaho Education Association is eliminating roughly 13% of its workforce and shuttering its regional offices, leaders of the statewide teachers' union said this week. The cost-cutting measures follow a directive from union members to scrutinize the organization's spending and come after a new state law limiting taxpayer support for union activities went into effect.

The union is axing four organizer positions and closing five regional offices, consolidating work at its Boise headquarters, according to Executive Director Paul Stark. The organization is also converting its Summer Institute, an annual training event for teachers, into a biennial gathering. The board of directors, which includes roughly two dozen members representing nine geographic areas across the state, informed union members of the cuts in a Monday email.

The board's message said the decisions came after the Delegate Assembly, a gathering of hundreds of local union leaders, instructed directors in April to conduct a complete review of the budget and confirm the union was living within its financial limits. "These decisions were not made lightly," the email stated. "They affect people. People who have dedicated themselves to serving our members and our profession." The board also weighed challenges posed by recent legislation, including House Bill 516, which the Delegate Assembly condemned as "union-busting" after Gov. Brad Little signed it into law.

House Bill 516, which took effect July 1, bars public schools from using taxpayer-funded resources like payroll systems to support union operations. The law prevents school districts from deducting union dues through payroll, blocks districts from giving teachers paid leave for union work unless the union reimburses the district, and prohibits sharing teachers' contact details with the union without permission. The Freedom Foundation, an anti-union organization based in Olympia, Washington, spent years pushing lawmakers to pass these restrictions after releasing a report claiming Idaho unions benefited from government money, facilities, and staff. Union leaders have consistently denied receiving taxpayer dollars, but Stark declined to detail how the law influenced the job cuts and office closures, noting that students and teachers are only one month into the school year and the full impact of the legislation remains unclear.