The House amendment makes changes and additions regarding competency-based learning, core curriculum changes, teacher and administrator performance, innovation acceleration fund, online learning, class sharing agreements, assessments, national board certification, educator employment and professional development and third grade literacy.

The amendment also establishes several task forces to study education reform ideas such as teacher evaluations, educator career ladders and compensation, online learning and instructional time and school year, competency-based education and the core curriculum.

Recently many of us in the House have asked the Board of Regents for more information about a little-known policy that has a big impact on tuition. Included in student tuition is a “set-aside” amount, meaning that not all of the tuition paid by a student goes toward his or her education. This “set-aside” amount is redirected to scholarships and financial aid for other lower income students.

For undergraduate students, the current effect of the policy is that $1,864 of the $7,765 tuition bill at the University of Iowa is used to offset scholarships of other students. At ISU, $1,392 of the $7,486 tuition bill goes to other students; and at UNI, $980 of the $6,408 tuition bill is applied to other students’ scholarships rather than direct costs of the paying student.

The Board of Regents has agreed with us that these amounts should be disclosed on each tuition bill. People have a right to know how their tuition dollars are being spent.

Going into this process we knew that we had a big task before us. Iowa’s schools are in desperate need of help. Over the past ten years, our test scores in reading and math have fallen while other states’ scores have been rising.

From 1992 to 2009, Iowa’s eighth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics scores fell from the top in the nation, down to merely average. And even though Iowa has above-average scores on the ACT, only 30% of test-takers in 2010 met all four ACT benchmarks for college readiness.

Recent polls indicate that Iowans support education reform. Iowans expect and deserve a world-class education for their children. In light of this, the proposed bill works to ensure that Iowa students not only have basic education skills such as math and reading, but also have the advanced skills to compete in a globally-competitive economy.

One final goal of the reform bill was to establish greater accountability of taxpayer dollars, so that parents and taxpayers can have confidence that each dollar is going directly to Iowa students.

Despite broad agreement on the need for education reform, there obviously are a wide range of ideas on how to get there. To reach consensus, many of the more controversial ideas were removed from the bill, and several other items added. The final bill incorporated sixteen amendments, authored by members of both parties.

I sponsored one amendment, adopted to the bill, which allows for religious schools to be exempt from core curriculum requirements in conflict with tenets of their religious faith. Additionally, nonpublic schools would be exempt from a requirement of having to post their job openings on the state’s job listing site.

I believe strongly in school choice and the right of parents to determine what is best for their children. We have several quality private schools in our area, including Dowling Catholic, Des Moines Christian School and Iowa Christian Academy. This language is important to protect them mandates to teach things they do not believe. Along with parental freedom to choose a private school should be the freedom of that school to adhere to its closely held beliefs.

After working through over 50 amendments, the final result was a bill which moves on to the Senate, where I trust that the work of improving the bill will continue. The education reform bill is a good example of how the legislative process can sometimes be a benefit in crafting good public policy. I look forward to continuing the conversation on how to improve Iowa’s schools and create better educational opportunities.

Governor Branstad will sign SF 2218, this Friday at 11am at Northwood Elementary School, the school Kadyn Halverson attended. This new legislation focuses on school bus safety and the penalties for breaking these safety laws. The penalties are changed so that a school bus driver who does not operate the bus under current code is guilty of a simple misdemeanor, punishable as a scheduled violation, with a fine of $100. Drivers who violate the law by failing to slow when passing a bus with flashing lights, or failing to stop when a school bus stop sign is deployed can be charged with a simple misdemeanor. A person who is a second or subsequent offender can be charged with a serious misdemeanor. Penalties are also increased for those who hit and injure or kill someone, while illegally passing a bus.

The bill also creates a study committee. The Department of Transportation, the Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety will study the use of cameras mounted on school busses, the feasibility of requiring children to be picked up and dropped off on the side of the road where their home is located and the possibility of including school bus safety as a priority in drivers training.

I have reviewed the basic plan put forward by President Allen and I have visited with representatives of the Iowa Board of Regents. I do

not

believe that a compelling case has been made for the MPLS closure; nor has I seen any alternative plan to provide adequate classroom training opportunities for UNI education students.

In these budget times, there is no question that some budget cuts must to be made. What I cannot accept is that these cuts should be made within the education department, historically UNI’s primary mission.

Here is contact information for some of my colleagues in the Iowa House who will be influential in the decision to keep Price Lab School open. If you care about keeping the Price Lab School open, it important to reach out to your own local legislators, but especially important if you live in one of these legislators’ districts.

House of Representatives

Speaker of House Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha)
kraig.paulsen@legis.state.ia.us

House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Garner)
linda.upmeyer@legis.state.ia.us

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines)
kevin.mccarthy@legis.state.ia.us

House Education Committee Chairman Greg Forristall (R-Macedonia)
greg.forristall@legis.state.ia.us

House Education Appropriations Chairman Cecil Dolecheck (R-Mount Ayr)
cecil.dolecheck@legis.state.ia.us

Senate

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs)
mike.gronstal@legis.iowa.gov

Senate Minority Leader Jerry Behn (R-Boone)
jerry.behn@legis.iowa.gov

Senate Education Committee Chairman Herman Quirmbach (D-Ames)
herman.quirmbach@legis.iowa.gov

Senate Education Appropriations Chairman Brian Schoenjahn (D-Arlington)
brian.schoenjahn@legis.iowa.gov

Currently, K-12 education funding in Iowa is set at $5883 per enrolled pupil. When you hear proposals for 0%, 2% or 4% allowable growth, that percentage is what would be applied to that $5883 per-pupil amount.

State and local funding is broken down into three segments. The first portion of the $5883 is comprised of $5.40 per $1000 of valuation in local property taxes. The second portion comes from a direct state appropriation, which takes the funding up to 87.5% of the $5883 per pupil. The final 12.5% is finished off by additional local property taxes.

One implication of this formula is that “property rich” districts (e.g. West Des Moines) are able to meet a much greater part of the $5883 per pupil through local property tax than “property poor” districts. Conversely, many of these “property poor” areas need a much higher school property tax levy than schools in our area.

In the past, to keep growing government in difficult budget years, the legislature set an allowable growth rate, and then intentionally underfunded its share of the K-12 funding the following year. This underfunding pulled the rug out from under school districts, after they had already set their budgets.

Last year, with new leadership in the House, we fixed this practice of intentional underfunding, and appropriated over $200 million additional dollars to make up this shortfall from the year before, while at the same time allowable growth was set at zero.

This year, there seems to be some consensus at the Capitol for some amount of allowable growth, yet no agreement yet on the exact rate. I agree with many that it’s time for a modest increase in school funding, but with our economic future still uncertain, I think it’s prudent that we set a growth rate we know is sustainable. I also would like to see any new K-12 educational spending offset by reductions and efficiencies in other areas.

The education funding formula has also entered into the conversation on property tax reform. Part of the plan recently passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee provides that the state pick up the above mentioned third piece of funding, the final 12.5%, currently paid by local property taxes.

On the upside, this plan would provide direct relief to local property taxpayers, without impacting school funding at all. On the other hand, as explained above, our area would get less property tax relief than other communities that receive a greater share of state aid.

Education funding in Iowa is a complex issue that significantly impacts the entire state budget. We all want the best for our children, and I will continue to work toward an educational system that is respectful of taxpayers, while delivering value to families and our children.