Not a Political Ad!

If you are like me, you are burned out of political ads.  My mailbox is full, they found my cell phone number, and I can't watch TV!  So please excuse this Blog post...

While I promise not to tell you how to vote, there is one race that Central supporters should pay very close attention to.  That race is for Iowa House District 55 which was previously held by Elkader's own Roger Thomas.  Darrel Branhagen (Republican) and Rick Edwards (Democrat) are the two candidates running for Iowa House District 55. 

Last Wednesday, the Central government class hosted a debate in the Central auditorium.

I went into that debate not knowing either candidate, so I was very excited to attend and learn about both candidates.  In terms of the education for our students (and as a parent, for my kids) it did not take long to determine Mr. Branhagen would not be a supporter of our public schools.  Mr. Branhagen has stated his support for waivers, which in my opinion shows how out of touch he is with our rural communities he is supposed to be representing.  If we get a waiver, we aren't Des Moines, so where are we supposed to go?  Does he want our kids on a bus for hours? Does he not know that over 90% of parents strongly support their child's school?
I also asked Mr. Branhagen about State Supplemental Aid and the importance of setting that at no lower than 4% due to Central and surrounding districts dealing with loss of enrollment.  His response was curious at best.  He started by stating teachers are underpayed in Iowa when compared to the nation, even though Iowa teachers outperform 90% of other States in the Nation.  He then went onto state that teachers in Iowa are underpayed when compared to other State positions in Iowa.  Yet, while recognizing these problems, Mr. Branhagen ended by stating he would not support an increase in State Supplemental Aid!  I stood there with my mouth open, looking confused?!  Iowa has a huge surplus, and one thing we want as parents is our tax money to go to our students.  An educated population leads to a stronger economy. 
Mr. Barnhagen also has to be aware that State Supplemental Aid doesn't just go to our teacher's salaries.  It goes to transportation costs, utilities of our buildings, instructional materials, professional development, and the ability to provide more opportunities for our students.
Currently Iowa is $1600 below the national average in terms of per-pupil funding.  Our small communities need and heavily support their local schools.  Many times, the local schools are the largest employer in their perspective towns.  Ask your local business owners what having a school district in their community means to them.  Look at the communities where schools have been closed, they die.
Sorry for the political rant, I was just heavily taken back by Mr. Branhagen's lack of support for our local schools.  He seemed very out of touch with rural Iowa.  If you know and support Mr. Branhagen, please challenge him to rethink his position on our local schools.  Obviously I am biased as the leader of one, but it should also be noted I graduated from a public school and I am the parent of three children that have attended a variety of public schools.  Iowa has great public schools, we need leaders in Des Moines that support and fight for our schools.
I welcome any discussion on this topic and encourage all voters in District 55 to share this information.