Today House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) called the governor’s plan to increase property taxes on Iowans the wrong direction.

“The governor signed the largest amount of spending in the history of Iowa and now that he can no longer sustain his bloated budget, he’s pushing a property tax increase onto the backs of Iowans,” said Paulsen.

With the governor’s recent across the board cut, he reduced the state funding for the K-12 foundation formula by $235 million. This is 10 percent of the amount the state promised school districts on a per pupil basis. However, this cut did not reduce the amount of spending authority districts have. Spending authority allows school districts to spend the allowed amount regardless of the amount of state aid. Ultimately, school districts have no place to find this money other than through increased property taxes.

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The House Republican Staff put together analyses on the Governor’s Across the Board cuts. They can be found under their respective committees in the Bill Analysis section of the site or clicked on from the list below:

10% Across the Board Cut Analyses
Administration and Regulation ATB Cut Analysis
Health and Human Services ATB Cut Analysis
Economic Development ATB Cut Analysis
Natural Resources ATB Cut Analysis
Transportation ATB Cut Analysis
Education ATB Cut Analysis

Gov. Culver’s $238 million cut to Iowa school districts continues to make headlines. School districts keep their spending authority but can recoup the loss by hiking local property taxes to make up the difference.

How did other sectors of education fare? The Board of Regent has until October 29th to separately submit their cuts totaling $60 million. Shortly after Culver announced his cut, the Board offered the possibility of a second semester increase in student fees or “tuition surcharge” to partially offset the loss.

Click to read a breakdown of the cuts in education…

In early September Iowa Republicans rolled out an education agenda calling for strong state standards, high school exit exams and expanded public disclosure of school and district performance.

This week Chad Adelman, a policy analyst at Education Sector, a nonpartisian think tank in Washington, D.C., wrote a guest editorial in the Des Moines Register praising the accountability piece but critcizing the strong state standards and high school exit exams.

Continue reading the case for strong state standards and exit exams…

Today three Republican Representatives came together to argue that during these tough economic times and while tuition increases linger, bonuses for presidents of state universities should not remain a viable option.

Rep. Kaufmann

Rep. Hagenow

Rep. Sweeney

“The discussion of these bonuses along with the creation last winter of a new ($140,000 per year) Chief of Staff position at the University of Iowa, indicates that our Regents universities are completely out of touch with the very taxpayers who fund them,” said Kaufmann.

Rep. Jeff Kaufmann (R-Wilton), a teacher with a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, was joined by Rep. Chris Hagenow (R-Windsor Heights), a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Law, who agrees that granting bonuses for these presidents at this time would be inappropriate.

“Most Iowans are not seeing a bonus or a raise this year. Many families are sacrificing to make ends meet, tightening their belts and living within their means,” said Hagenow.

Last year two House Republicans offered legislation which directed that if tuitions were increased at state schools, then salary increases would not be allowed. Kaufmann is prepared to add bonuses to the bill.

Mother of an Iowa State University student and State Representative Annette Sweeney (R-Alden) questions tuition increases at this time.

“A tuition increase at this time could be devastating for Iowa families. Every state-funded institution must be more vigilant at finding savings. And to even discuss bonuses at this time is certainly disheartening to many Iowans,” said Sweeney.

As part of the Iowa Republicans: Real Solutions for Iowa’s Families initiative, today Iowa Republicans announced Iowa School House Initiatives

With nearly 60% of Iowa’s state budget devoted to some form of education spending, Iowans have every right to expect an educational product that prepares our students for college and/or a career. Unfortunately, even though Iowa students averaged the second highest ACT scores in the nation, a whopping 71% of students who took the ACT in 2008/09 were not prepared for college and 50%2 of our graduates must take some form of remedial class work when they get to college.

Most Iowans are justifiably proud of their local public schools. However, we cannot let that pride blind us from the reality that the standards, expectations, and accountability measures that were good enough a decade ago, might no longer be good enough today.

In addition, we must never allow the level of spending on education to be the sole yard stick that measures our success. Our students, teachers, and parents deserve an educational system that aligns our educational products with the needs and demands of a changing world.

Republicans have real solutions to help ensure students and teachers achieve at higher levels while providing parents and taxpayers with greater transparency and accountability for their success. Here is what Republicans will do if Iowa voters give them the opportunity:

Continue reading for Republican Solutions…

Recently the NEA bitterly criticized the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top program which is the linchpin of this president’s education reform effort. The union went so far as to say that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is reneging on his promise to promote education reform.

What sparked NEA’s ire? The proposed federal regulations for Race to the Top, an Obama initiative with $4.35 billion available to the states that apply.

The regulations give more money and greater preference to states that do three things:

1. Encourage the use test scores for evaluating teachers;
2. Increase the number of high quality charter schools; and
3. Expand routes for alternative teacher licensure.

In a snappishly worded letter, the union said that it doesn’t support these three things. Yet President Obama campaigned on these values and Arne Duncan built his heroic reputation on the philosophy behind each of these reforms.

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You won’t find a more excited group of Iowans than the 35,000 kindergartners waiting for their first-ever day of school. This school year buzz is the perfect time to remind parents and taxpayers of Iowa’s investment in K-12 education.

Iowa school districts begin the 2009-2010 school year with an impressive $5.3 billion in total revenue. The state of Iowa contributes $ 2.7 billion in state aid. Local sales and property taxes make up another $2.2 billion. The federal government chips in almost $400 million, with $200 million of that amount being one-time, one-year Federal Stimulus money.

For a PDF file breaking down the numbers of the FY 2010 School District Revenue, click here.

Now is the time to start assessing whether schools are doing their job in educating students and whether Iowa is getting a good return on its investment.

Good News: Test Scores Up!
Bad News: Too Many Students Left Behind

Last week Iowa’s education director, Judy Jeffrey, delivered the sunny side of the student achievement story in Iowa. She left out, however, the cold hard reality that 18 percent of fourth graders, 24 percent of eight graders and 23 percent of 11th graders can’t read. Similar percentages of Iowa students can’t do basic math.

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Did you know that kids who read four or five books over the summer can prevent reading-achievement loss that normally occurs during the summer months?

Call it a “Summer slump”, “Summer Loss” or “Summer Setback” but call it right for your kids. Reading four or five books keeps kids tuned-up to learn.

Researcher Jimmy S. Kim found that children who read books during the summer did better on fall reading tests than their peers who read one or no books over the summer. Mr. Kim’s findings are based upon surveys and test data of 1,600 students in 18 elementary schools in a Middle Atlantic suburban school district.

Make it a household event. Involve your child in selecting books and dedicate real time and a positive environment for reading. Who knows you might just finish that book you’ve wanted to read.

These web sites give you a great place to start:

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