As this year's Iowa legislative session begins, educational issues have been front and center. In the Governor's recent remarks, educational reform and educational funding were two of his key talking points. This brings a few issues and suggestions to my mind on which our local publics may want some clarification and feedback.
Allowable Growth
This is a percentage increase of the state per pupil cost to be calculated for the upcoming budget year. Determined by the state legislature. School funding is figured on a per pupil basis. By law, allowable growth must be set within 30 days of the governor's budget submission to the legislature. This is to be done 18 months in advance of the budget year set, so for the 2012 legislative session the allowable growth rate was to be set for fiscal year 2014. During the 2012 legislative session, the legislature failed to set fiscal year 2014 allowable growth.
The governor recommended the legislative delay setting the 2014 rate until the 2013 legislative session, after work on the Teacher Leadership and Compensation task force was completed and acted upon in the 2013 legislative session. The school budget for FY 2014 has to be submitted on or before April 15 of this year, so waiting until now to set the funding for FY 2014 is impractical. It is also being purposed by the governor's office to leave the allowable growth for 2014 at 0% and any increase in funding be directed to support the proposals from the Teacher Leadership and Compensation task force.
This approach raises concerns about school districts' ability to meet their current budgetary needs in addition to any legislative requirements that my be contained in the education reform bill, without advance knowledge of the budget allowed for education. Existing statutory guidelines, such as collective bargaining, the budget certification date and the dates for issuing termination notices, require more advance budget planning than it appears the legislature and the governor have been willing to give.
Employee costs are the largest line item in the budget, but school budgets are more that just paying employee salaries and benefits. Other costs continue to grow - fuel, utilities, textbooks, ect. These are all items funded through the general fund. Schools cannot substantially cut these items more than we already have with the recent statewide across-the-board cuts. Should these costs continue to increase, an allowable growth figure set a 0% would mean a reduction to programs and/or staff.
Iowa's revenue picture is improving and the signs of recovery are visible. The legislature should consider the growing economy and the historically low funding of school districts over the last five years. The legislature should provide an allowable growth rate that will allow schools to dedicate resources to improving student achievement, implementing and assessing the Iowa Core Curriculum and preparing our students for the 21st century.
Improving student achievement is not just about changing policy. It is about providing the necessary resources to strengthen our education system. Recent across-the-board cuts, low to no allowable growth rates and an increase in expectations have left school districts with little capacity to fund new programs.
Iowa Core Curriculum
The new Iowa Core Curriculum defines a higher expectation that goes beyond minimum proficiency levels. Iowa schools need strong state support to implement the expectations in the Iowa Core Standards, along with the support needed to achieve those standards (i.e. assessments, professional development, resources, and flexibility).
The legislature and governor should continue to provide the financial support for the implementation of the Iowa Core Curriculum. Any changes to the Iowa Core should be done with evidence that the change will ensure higher achievement for students.
Unfunded Mandates
Over the past several years, the legislature has imposed unfunded mandates on K-12 schools. Mandates that have no connection to improving student achievement. At the same time, school districts have struggled with budget reductions, low or no allowable growth and increasing costs, all while trying to meet the demands of new curriculum and graduation requirements. Unfunded mandate examples over the last few years include green cleaning, librarian/media specialist, nurse and guidance counselor requirements, CPR training and physical activity requirements, to name a few. All are good ideas, none came with any financial support to implement.
The legislature should repeal all unfunded mandates which cannot demonstrate a strong connection to improving student achievement. Leave the decision to fill these positions and implement these programs at the local level. Any future mandates on K-12 schools should be adopted only if they are shown to improve student achievement.
Restructuring
School boards and the residents of the school districts involved have the primary responsibility to determine the makeup and the boundries of school districts. In order to reduce costs and maintain or enrich quality education, school districts have been encouraged to share administrators, teachers, equipment, facilities, transportation, and extracurricular activities (just like we have done at Alta-Aurelia). It works. Sharing may or may not lead to reorganization, but history shows that districts are unlikely to revert back to previous practices once sharing takes place.
The legislature should extend the sharing incentives which are due to expire in 2014. These incentives have proven to work and are an important part of the sharing or reorganization process. The state should continue to offer sufficient incentives to make sharing or reorganization financially attractive to school districts. The state should eliminate barriers to reorganization and sharing, such as property tax rate differentials and increased transportation costs.
Education Reform
I fully support any reform efforts that: are research-based; focused on improving student achievement; includes comprehensive assessments to measure the full range and rigor of the Iowa Core Curriculum; maintains oversight and control locally; does not "repurpose" existing education funds; and does not impose new mandates unless they are fully funded.
Any reform efforts must be fully funded. School districts do not have additional funds in their budgets to pay for any new mandates or initiatives. Also, funding cannot take the form of a categorical fund. It must be part of state aid. Categorical funds are historically underfunded and often do not include a provision for growth in funding. In order for funding to keep pace, it needs to be in the state aid formula comparable to the class size and teacher quality funds.
Contact Your Legislators
If you feel so inclined, I encourage every parent and patron, interested in improving our schools, to contact their representative and senator. They can be found at https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Legislators/find.aspx
When talking with legislators about educational issues, I suggest focusing your advocacy efforts on the following: advocating for allowable growth; fully funding educational reform; funding through the state aid formula - not new categorical funds as schools need to know the funding is sustainable and dependable; adopting and fully funding assessments that measure the Iowa Core; and not repurposing current education funding.
