Devin Bodkin, Idaho Ed News

Beth Oppenheimer can point without hesitation to the worst day of her career as executive director of the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children: March 2, 2021. 

“I fell to the ground, sobbing from the news,” she said. 

House Republicans killed a bill to allow Oppenheimer’s nonprofit to oversee nearly $6 million in federal grants to support and expand preschool education efforts across Idaho. 

She expected pushback from some lawmakers, but all-out rejection of the pre-approved funds rattled Oppenheimer, who has for years been a leading voice for state-funded pre-K despite conservative resistance.