What families in Idaho should know
Idaho has a real, usable grant for families — it's called Empowering Parents, and it puts $1,000 per student (up to $3,000 per family) into an account parents can spend on tutoring, curriculum, and therapy through an online marketplace. Idaho also requires every certified teacher in the state to be trained in dyslexia strategies as a condition of keeping their license, which is a stronger requirement than many states have.
The program's early years were rocky, though. Idaho's first contractor for Empowering Parents, a company called Odyssey, had families making improper purchases — clothes, TVs, smart watches — and the state eventually made Odyssey pay back nearly $479,000. Idaho switched to a new vendor, ClassWallet, in 2024. If you're applying now, the marketplace itself should be more reliable, but it's worth knowing the program had a genuinely bumpy start.
Funding & financial assistance
Funding information is being reviewed for this state.
Tutor and therapist pathways
Under Idaho Code § 33-1811, every certified educator in Idaho — not just K-3 teachers — must be trained in strategies for teaching students with dyslexia, and this became a recertification requirement by the 2025-2026 school year. The state uses the Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI) as its primary K-3 dyslexia screening tool. There's no separate "dyslexia therapist" license, and private tutors need no state credential to operate — national CALT/Barton/Wilson certifications remain the practical standard.
Idaho Dept. of Education — Dyslexia Information
Map of Idaho tutor listings
Explore the locations represented in our directory. Select a marker for provider details, or select a listing below to focus its marker.
Idaho provider directory
These listings are provided as a starting point for your own research.
Sources
- 1. Empowering Parents (official) — Idaho State Board of Education — empoweringparents.idaho.gov
- 2. After A Turbulent Start, State Makes A Change On Empowering Parents Contract — ClassWallet — classwallet.com/after-a-turbulent-start-state-makes-a-change-on-empowering-parents-contract
- 3. Analysis: How Idaho's troubled Empowering Parents vendor expanded its national brand — Idaho Capital Sun — idahocapitalsun.com/2023/07/06/analysis-how-idahos-troubled-empowering-parents-vendor-expanded-its-national-brand
- 4. Empowering Parents vendor applications / Lee Pesky Learning Center course approval — Idaho Ed News — www.idahoednews.org/news/empowering-parents-vendor-applications-are-open