Education a key focus of discussion of first legislative coffee of 2022

Around 25 area residents attended the first legislative coffee event of the year at the Montgomery County Family YMCA Saturday, Feb. 5.
State Sen. Mark Costello and State Rep. David Sieck were both in attendance, and announced this year would be their last for legislative coffees in Montgomery County, as both would no longer serve the county in 2023, due to redistricting.
The event included a lengthy question and answer session, which focused heavily on education. In his opening remarks, Costello said supplemental state aid was being considered at either 2.5% or 3% for the upcoming year.
Red Oak Superintendent Ron Lorenz questioned whether that number was accurate, as the information he had been presented was different.
“The governor did indeed propose a 2.5% increase, the Iowa Senate proposed a 2.25% increase, and the Iowa House proposed a 2.5% increase. So I’m trying to find where 3% is in this, because it sounds more like its going to be between 2.25% and 2.5%,” Lorenz said.
Costello said he was going by information from last week, and wasn’t aware the House had proposed a 2.5% increase.
Lorenz further stated he was looking for help from the two lawmakers, because 2.5% wasn’t enough.
“A few years ago, the legislature changed collective bargaining, so our settlements for our teachers has to be the lesser of the Consuper Price Index, or 3%. This year, the CPI is moving towards 7%, so we are going to have to settle at 3% with our teachers, by law,” advised Lorenz. “You’re going to give us, at best, 2.5% in supplemental state aid. That’s been the trend, and I can’t do that math. And that’s just for this year, that doesn’t cover the lowball numbers we’ve gotten from the years before. I just don’t understand how that’s sustainable.”
Sieck said part of the reasoning for the 2.5% number was due to COVID-19 relief funds.
“Iowa schools, right now, are sitting on $786 million. And while the uses are limited, it can be used in certain instances which would allow schools to shift the money around. Also, we’re proposing an extra $20 million that will be available as part of supplemental state aid, but it won’t be built into the aid every year. It’s to supplement for some of the extra costs this year due to inflation,” Sieck explained.
Lorenz said the Omnibus Education bill, and vouchers were among the things that were adding to the stress of teachers, and the district itself, and was driving teachers to leave the education field.
“There are all sorts of requirements being imposed that I have no idea how I can possibly imput if they’re passed,” Lorenz stated.
Costello wasn’t clear how vouchers were affecting local schools. Lorenz said it had to do with the shifting of public school money to private schools.
“You’re taking the big pot of money and telling the taxpayers that you’re giving money to private schools that don’t have the same requirements or rules as public schools,” commented Lorenz.
Costello replied that so far, that funding hadn’t been taken yet, and the public schools were getting funding alternatives.
“You’re going to get extra money from the Rural School fund, and not all districts are going to lose money for private schools,” Costello advised.
Lorenz disagreed, and said the Rural School fund only applied to districts that were 500 students or less.
“We talk about these programs, and try to say they’re innocuous things, but when you start getting into the details, that’s going to hurt Red Oak, and Shenandoah, and Clarinda, because you’re taking the money allocated for public schools and decreasing that by sending it to private schools,” Lorenz said
Costello countered that districts that had no students moving to private schools would not be affected. Lorenz disagreed.
“If you have $100 million dollars divided by 100 schools, just to do easy math, and then you add 50 private schools and start dividing that amount by 150 schools, that decreases the amount,” Lorenz commented.
Sieck said his understanding was that the private school funding would be split in bigger towns that don’t have education opportunities, and in his district, there were no perocial schools at all.
“My understanding is, if the pot of money that the Iowa gives the school is $5,000 per student, $2,200 would follow that kid wherever he goes, but the school will get the rest of that $5,000, even though the kid is no longer going to the school. This is just a rough number, and we’re not gutting the community schools, and I’ll only support the bill if it’s not going to hurt our public schools,” Sieck explained.
Lorenz said there was one important thing he wanted both Sieck and Costello to do before they signed the bill over vouchers.
“Look at this bill critically, before you sign off on party lines. Talk to your collegues about this, and the devil’s in the details,” stated Lorenz.
Lorenz added he would also welcome the opportunity to sit down with Costello and review the bill and discuss it with him.
Costello asked for clarification about what restrictions were being put on districts that were causing stress.
Lorenz brought up legislation involving “transparency and state standards.”
 “Districts must post all curriculum and syllabus on the district’s website, materials sorted by grade, the titles of all textbooks, books, and other instructional materials, cameras in the classrooms, and I’m not even talking about Sen. Jake Chapman mouthing off about a sinister consipracy, and that teachers are intentionally promoting pornography,” Lorenz said. “You’re talking about a couple of districts in Des Moines that may have a problem, so deal with those districts, don’t task these ridiculous things that apply to every district. Why don’t we trust boards to implement policies that are right for their community, rather than the legislature dictating these things to us. I just feel like we have a lot of representatives in Des Moines that don’t have a clue what goes on here.”
Sieck made it clear that there has to be a threshold vote to get things through.
“All these things being proposed have not been vetted or gone through oth chambers, and will probably never happen,” said Sieck.
The next legislative coffee will be at 8 a.m. on March 5, at the YMCA in Red Oak.