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Ragan: More educational opportunity through sharing

Senator Amanda Ragan
The following is a legislative column submitted by Senator Amanda Ragan of Mason City:

The 2018 legislative session wrapped up on Saturday, May 5.I am pleased we have passed legislation to help our rural schools continue a successful initiative.

Since 2008, many Iowa schools have shared some staff and administrative positions, including superintendents, business management, human resources, transportation and maintenance.

The state provides financial incentives to schools that opt to share positions. Ultimately, the schools and the state save money while boosting educational excellence. Right now, 230 districts get state incentive money to share administrators.

Out of 18 school districts in our region, 12 are currently using this program. It allows more effective use of available funding.

HF 633 continues this program, which was set to expire, and eliminates restrictions on how long schools can participate.

The incentives promote good working relationships between neighboring school districts and help smaller schools meet students’ educational needs with limited resources. This program is a life line for rural communities with declining populations, especially after several years of inadequate state funding for schools.

This session, we also got a start on other critical Iowa issues but didn’t finish the job on some of them. For example:

· The Legislature approved a first step toward cleaner water, but provided insufficient funding for projects.
· Lawmakers voted to re-shape Iowa’s mental health system, but failed to invest enough resources to ensure Iowans get the help they need.
· We passed a plan to train more Iowans for immediate skilled-job openings, but legislative leaders cut funding for college and job training.

I’ll expand on these topics in the coming months, as we see how state government priorities impact real Iowans.

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