From Sen. Amanda Ragan –
The Iowa Senate has approved a four percent increase in state funding for local schools, along with additional state dollars to prevent any related property tax increase.
The recession has meant some lean years for Iowa schools. With the state budget in good shape, now’s the time to invest in student achievement and bring financial stability back to our schools. This legislation provides the dollars that buy up-to-date textbooks, keep the lights on, put gas in the buses, and pay all school employees.
Since 1995, Iowa law has required us to set basic school funding so schools knew what financial resources they would have a year and a half in advance. If school funding is again entangled in a lengthy budget battle, local schools will have to assume there will be no new state investment in education.
A new survey of Iowa school superintendents indicates that lawmakers should take quick action to approve an overdue increase in basic aid for schools. Eighty-seven percent of respondents said that aid to local schools must be set by March 1 or earlier to avoid teacher layoffs, crowded classes and harm to student achievement.
If there is no boost to school funding, superintendents said their schools would see larger class sizes (72 percent), delays in upgrading materials (68 percent), layoffs of teachers (57 percent), and layoffs of classroom assistants (51 percent). Superintendents almost unanimously (99 percent) believe that education dollars would be used more effectively if the state returned to setting basic aid to education a year and a half in advance. To review the complete results of the Iowa school superintendents’ survey, go to www.iowahouse.org. We need to do the right thing. Let’s put student achievement at our local schools first.
For an analysis of the school funding that we approved in the Senate, and that now heads to the House for consideration, go to http://tinyurl.com/aycqjmh.
