Des Moines, home of the Capitol building, is the home to many political decisions. One of the latest decisions hits closer to home. The Iowa senate approved an education funding plan that increases funding by 1.1%, a concerning number for many educators and political leaders.
What exactly does that mean? The press had a chance to interview local Senator Amanda Ragan, local Representative Sharon Steckman, and MCHS teacher Laura (Frau) Grommesh . Ragan explained it in a way to “dumb” it down a bit. She stated, “school funding is complicated, there is no doubt about that. To answer your question, a simple way to look at it on a student level is that 1.1% increase in school funding means just $73 dollar more per student next year than last year. Think about what that means for your school. Now, with that small amount of money your school needs to pay increases in teacher salaries, health insurance, electricity, in addition to things like buying new textbooks. For reference, a new American History textbook average $150. So – this funding would only allow your school to buy a half a textbook for every student…and nothing more.”
To explain spending even more we interviewed Laura Grommesh, who described spending as making a cake. “you get certain amounts of ingredients, and you can only use those ingredients for certain things. Once you run out of those ingredients, you’re out. Like with the new Chromebooks, we just got those were bought using money from one of the ingredients.”
Mrs. Steckman shared a story of a high school senior from West Des Moines came into the House and give a speech. This student emphasized how spending cuts had affected her schools. According to this student, some kids didn’t have enough desks to sit down during class. It would be a free-for-all get to class early just to get a seat.
Then the question arises is this 1.1% increase enough? And is education a priority for the legislators who approved it? All 3 individuals interviewed said no. Ms. Grommesh said it was simply “depressing.” Sharon and Amanda both stated this was the lowest amount in 6 years and Steckman also said schools have been on the back burner for 8. “Education is the backbone of society” Steckman stated.
The Globe Gazette interviewed a Republican on the matter. Most Republicans support the 1.1% increase. “Senate File 166 gives a clear signal that we’re committed to providing responsible and sustainable funding for local school districts,” said Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, the bill’s floor manager. “This bill makes a promise to local schools that can be kept and is the first step towards meeting our obligations to set school aid in a timely manner.”
Now if the Iowa lawmakers we interviewed had a chance to change things, how would they? Ragan stated “school funding should be set a year and a half in advance and then the rest of the state budget should be decided after that.” Steckman said the percentage should be a minimum of 3-3.5%.
All in all school spending is a very tricky subject. We can only look to the future to see how the funding increase with impact Mason City Community Schools.
-Jayden Smith, Sophomore