GOP plan for Iowa schools: More funding, more infrastructure, more flexibility, more innovation

The following is a legislative update from House Republican leader Linda Upmeyer:

Over the last several years, we have consistently made schools our top priority. Nearly 45% of the state’s budget goes K-12 schools, demonstrating our strong commitment to education. Even in difficult budget years, we have protected schools from cuts, and have actually increased funding during those times.

Our investments are paying off. Here is a small sample showing what a great return on our investment we are getting:

– 2,300 new full-time teachers in Iowa classrooms
– A student-to-teacher ratio of 13.5 (lower than 2011)
– The highest graduation rate in the country
– One of the top states for ACT test scores

To continue our commitment, the House this week introduced a package of legislation to support our K-12 schools across the state. This package will build upon our past successes and help our schools, especially in rural Iowa.

Our plan addresses four different priorities:

– Provide schools with an additional $32 million next school year
– Create a Transportation Support Fund that makes an initial investment of $10 million
– Create additional flexibility opportunities for school boards and administrators
– Work to extend the school infrastructure fund
– Funding Boost of $32 Million

We are well on track to set school funding within the first 30 days of session, delivering on our promise to create certainty for schools to plan their budget.

Our plan is to boost K-12 investment by $32 million in new funding for the 2018-19 school year. This will bring total annual funding to more than $3.2 billion, an increase of $765 million since 2011.

We have made record investments in K-12 education over the years and this new funding will continue our commitment to schools.

Transportation Support Fund
Many schools across the state face an unequal burden when it comes to transportation costs. Some districts transportation costs are as low as $20 per student while are nearly $1,000. This inequity is especially difficult in rural areas of the state where school districts are less condensed than their urban counterparts. This means higher costs to bus students to schools and less money in the classroom to teach our kids.

We are proposing to create a fund dedicated to reducing these disparities by investing $10 million in new funding towards this effort. This will relieve some pressure on rural school budgets and free up dollars in their General Funds that they can then put to use for educational purposes.

Additional Flexibility
Last session, we championed legislation that provided schools with unprecedented flexibility and control over their resources, and we want to build upon these successes from last session.

We will be working hard this session to provide even more flexibility in existing school funds, returning more decision making to locally-elected school boards, rather than directives from Des Moines. Our Education Committee members are working on a bill and will soon begin working it through the process.

No two schools are exactly alike. There are major differences between schools in Des Moines and schools in rural Iowa. We need to provide them all with more flexibility so they can address the specific needs of their parents, students, teachers, and communities.

School Infrastructure
In 2008, the Legislature created the SAVE Fund that schools could use for infrastructure improvements. This money is generated from one penny of the statewide sales tax.

When SAVE was first created, many schools had old buildings that were in need of major repairs or new buildings altogether. This money has been used to create safe schools and ensure that we are keeping up with technology innovations in our classrooms.

The school infrastructure fund has been a critical tool for schools to provide them with the funding and financing necessary to improve their facilities. However, this fund is set to expire in 2029, making it difficult for schools to bond against the future revenue generated from SAVE.

We will work to extend this important tool for schools this session so that they can continue to make those investments in infrastructure and improve the educational experience for their students. While we are looking at SAVE, we may also include some reforms to the way these dollars are spent to ensure that they are being used for the proper intent of the fund.

Overall, this is a comprehensive school finance plans that will go a long way to provide more funding, more flexibility, and more dollars for infrastructure for our K-12 schools. We will continue to work closely with parents, school boards, and school administrators as we move forward this session.

I look forward to continuing this discussion as we work on additional opportunities that improve Iowa’s education system and ensure that our students are career-ready when they graduate!