Election day is just around the corner in Iowa and across the nation. While the this year’s highly-publicized presidential race seems to get most of the media attention, don’t forget that there are other candidates on the ballot who seek your vote and the opportunity to represent and serve you on a more local level.
On November 8, Iowans will have the opportunity to cast a vote for one of the candidates hoping to serve as their state representative. Many state senate seats are also up for election. Many people don’t realize the importance of these Iowa House and Senate seats. In many ways, the decisions made by the IOWA legislature have a greater effect on our daily lives than do the votes of our U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators.
Speaking as a school superintendent, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to make an endorsement or suggest that district patrons cast their votes in a certain way. However, I will say this:
If education is important to you –
If your local schools are important to you –
If the young people in our communities are important to you –
And if the future of Iowa is important to you –
…then I encourage you to visit with the candidates about educational issues and make sure you know where they stand (and that THEY know where YOU stand) in terms of support for our students and our schools.
Legislators often hear from school superintendents, administrators, teachers, and school board members. After a while, they likely get tired of hearing from those of us in the educational community. The legislature and the legislative candidates need to hear from parents, community members, and local business owners that our schools are valued and a vital part of our communities!
We hear a lot about equity and equal educational opportunity these days. I think it is generally agreed upon that regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, etc., our students deserve equal opportunities in our schools. Yet, there are inequities in the ways that Iowa’s schools are funded which have led to our students having unequal educational opportunities. In the following paragraphs, I’ll explain two such inequities: The inequity in per-student funding and the differences in funding available to spend on student learning due to district population density.
INEQUITY IN PER-STUDENT FUNDING:
Iowa’s school funding formula has built-in inequities that impact school districts and the students they serve. Since, the 1970’s when the current school funding formula was established, North Tama has received the LOWEST amount of per-student funding possible. This isn’t something that our school board can control – the value is set by the state. While we do receive the exact same funding per-student as many districts in the state, just look at what some area districts have received, year after year, since the 1970’s:
Union: $82 more per student than North Tama
Hudson: $175 more per student than North Tama
BCL-UW: $81 more per student than North Tama
Cedar Falls: $7 more per student than North Tama
South Tama: $20 more per student than North Tama
Across the state, there is a $175 range in basic per-student funding that exists just because “it has always been that way.” This means North Tama and many other districts have less to invest in each student from day one. Please ask the candidates to explain their feelings on this issue; and ask them to end this inequity immediately if they are elected. Remind them that ALL of Iowa’s students are important assets for our future!
INEQUITY DUE TO POPULATION DENSITY:
Districts serving a large rural area must spend more on transportation; therefore, they have less to spend on classroom instruction. There are districts in Iowa such as West Burlington (Total Land Area: 2 Square Miles) and Marion (Total Land Area: 3.6 Square Miles) that have very few students that even qualify daily for bussing because they live so close to the school. These districts spend virtually nothing on transportation compared to larger rural districts like North Tama (Total Land Area: 155 Square Miles).
In some urban and suburban districts, a bus can have enough stops in three or four miles to be filled to capacity, while in some rural districts a bus can travel three or four miles and only stop for the occasional stop sign. Yet, many rural districts are unable to reduce their number of bus routes due to state laws limiting the amount of time students can spend on the bus.
North Tama’s students deserve equal educational opportunities, yet districts like ours are forced to spend a higher percentage of our available funds on transportation leaving less money to provide these opportunities. Consider asking your legislative candidates their feelings about this transportation equity issue. I believe the Iowa legislature should be asked to provide an additional funding stream for transportation or use a formula based on population density when determining Supplemental State Aid.
Our rural students represent the future of Iowa. No matter where they live, they deserve equal access to a top-notch education! Each and every one of them deserves a quality education regardless of whether they live in one of Iowa’s large metro areas, a growing suburb, or in a rural area that may be losing population. Your advocacy is more important now than ever before. An election is a great opportunity to talk face to face with those who seek to represent you, to find out where they stand on the issues, and to express your feelings to the candidates.
I’m sure there are other issues – many of them unrelated to education – that are also important to you. I encourage you to exercise your rights as a citizen by visiting with the candidates and finding out where they truly stand on the issues that matter most to you. And then…by all means…go out on November 8 and VOTE!
You are welcome to visit my blog at http://redhawksupt.blogspot.com/ where this column and all of the columns I have written for the Star Clipper are posted. You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter, where my handle is @DavidRobertHill.
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