Don’t call it a field trip: Wednesday more than 150 education leaders and school superintendents are rallying at the Iowa Capitol, united in their vocation and in their request for Iowa legislators to attend to the needs of the state’s students.
“If you are not directly involved with budgeting for one of Iowa’s public schools or Area Education Agencies, you might not fully grasp the funding crisis that our education system is really in,” said Dr. Theron Schutte, Marshalltown superintendent, one of the superintendents attending Wednesday's event. “This event provides an important opportunity for school leaders to have productive conversations with our elected officials about the local impact of diminished funding and what's needed to maintain quality programming for all of Iowa's students. As school leaders, we have a responsibility to speak on behalf of all the students and families that we serve."
Representatives from every Area Education Agency and school districts across the state will be speaking to legislators about the demands of public education and the legislators’ support of their work. They will be highlighting of their district needs as they relate to:
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The removal of the SAVE sunset. The extension of this revenue source is urgently needed for this funding to successfully address school district facility needs.
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An increase in SSA that provides adequate resources for students and teachers, is timely and equitable, and takes into account overall state revenue growth.
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The removal of the sunset for operational sharing incentives. These supports have been critical to small and rural school districts as they deal with declining enrollments and increased transportation costs.
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Support for state policy that identifies options and provides resources for school districts to use to address the complex issues of student suicide and other serious mental health-related issues .
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Legislation that addresses the inequities of transportation per-pupil costs for school districts with higher than the state average (per-pupil) transportation costs.
Local districts scheduled to have representatives in attendance include Andrew, Bellevue, Central DeWitt, Clinton, Columbus, Easton Valley, Louisa-Muscatine, Northeast, North Scott, Pleasant Valley, and West Liberty.
“Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) is an integral part of our plans to continue to update our buildings and expand educational opportunities for our students. Without SAVE, we would have to delay improvements to our buildings such as roof repairs, HVAC, HS kitchen and media center remodels, John Glenn Elementary Safe Room, expansions at the Alan Shepard and Ed White elementaries and now the auditorium remodeling project. In the past, 1:1 technology devices were purchased for students through SAVE without having to burden the parents with the expense. Our general budget could not absorb these expenses without reducing staff and raising class sizes. We are currently looking into expanding agricultural education in our district by building an Ag Educational Center and offering dual credit courses. If SAVE does not get extended, we will either need to eliminate this plan, or go to a bond referendum and raise property taxes. SAVE is not only essential to our district, but it is also important to our economy and property tax relief,” explained Joe Stutting from North Scott Community School District.
