I was asked by a retired Central teacher to write about the what affect 1.11% State Supplemental Aid will have on Central as well as my opinion on other current political issues. Honestly I was very torn whether to write anything or not as I have made a New Year's Resolution not to discuss politics on Facebook or Twitter. Social media has become a very ugly place where we as a people can no longer have a conversation and would seem we no longer posses the ability to find Common Ground. So as I write this I am going to try to keep my political positions out, and just provide the facts and details surrounding Central.
State Supplemental Aid- The Governor set 2% in his budget we ended with 1.11%. Neither rate really affects Central in the short term due to our loss of enrollment. At both rates we would have been at a 1% budget guarantee. Instead of worrying about State Supplemental Aid, the Central community should be worried about bringing young families into our school district. Elkader has started this work by forming a housing committee and piloting a program with business specialist, Jim Thompsen of Main Street Iowa. This is an excellent first step as Jim frankly points out "everything you have tried before this hasn't worked or I wouldn't be here". The state legislature has to work within their budget and as superintendent my #1 concern is our enrollment and positively promoting our excellent school district and communities we represent. Simply put, I can't control State Supplemental Aid but feel maybe I could have some control on our enrollment?
Chapter 20 (Collective Bargaining)- No matter what side you sit on this issue we need to remember this affects our teachers who here at Central make up a good portion of our Central community. Each day they spend a large amount of time with our children and outside of that time they are our family and friends. As superintendent I am encouraging our school board to take a wait and see approach on this legislation and I plan to continue having an excellent relationship with our teachers and staff. We are a team here at Central. I've shared with other superintendents that if this bill goes through as currently written we have been put into a position of "walking on glass" as we must balance the culture of our districts against financial stability of our districts. This legislation is a perfect example of No Common Ground as Democrats refused to negotiate Chapter 20 for years and now that control has swung Republican we are seeing an extreme change being presented instead of two parties working together to find common ground. Had both parties worked together to address some of the inequitable issues with Chapter 20, we wouldn't have extreme changes.
Sales Tax Extension- I hear a bill has been introduced to eliminate the sunset of sales tax but with restrictions. Central is in favor of eliminating the sunset but is not in favor of restrictions. We feel that if the school board does not spend those funds appropriately, then voters have the power already to vote out board members. For those of us who pay property taxes, this is a very important bill as this funding stream has limited the need for school districts to bond for extra money, keeping our property taxes down.
School Vouchers- There is talk and I believe a bill to promote school vouchers and school choice. While these types of ideas are being implemented in Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc. these ideas are wrong for rural Iowa. School Vouchers create a system of Have and Have-Not. Students with parents that have the means and knowledge to take their children somewhere else do so and leave behind lower income students in our public education system. Politicians then use low test scores of public schools against higher test scores of schools who can pick and choose their students to further promote vouchers and school choice. When I started my administration career I worked at Sacred Heart in Oelwein. The public school bussed our kids, did all of our Title 1 services, did all of our special education services as well as all of our nursing services. As a private school we could pick and choose our students and if we didn't want a student we simply kicked them out. In our public schools we don't pick and choose students, instead we welcome all students and work to give every student an opportunity at the American dream. Roughly 94% of Iowa students attend our amazing public schools. We need to hold our representatives accountable to support Iowa's strong public education system and vote out those who promote vouchers as a way to dismantle public education and those that promote a system of Have and Have Not. Sorry, this one did get a little more opinionated than I said I would but having experience in both private and public I feel the need to share those experiences.
The GOOD NEWS!- Bills have been presented for State Funding Equity and Transportation Equity. I have talked in previous posts about both of these. The State Funding Equity got a lot of attention when Davenport's superintendent stated he would break the law. Central like Davenport was set at the lowest per-pupil rate and a bill has been introduced to fix that over a period of time. The same bill also addresses transportation inequities across our State. I need to do a little more research on these bills but this will mean extra per-pupil funding for Central's students.
As superintendent I will continue to work at being as efficient as possible with our tax dollars while providing an excellent education to our students. I am so thankful for our community and parent support and promise we will continue to work and represent you.
