Another Day, Another Attack on School Kids

Des Moines, Iowa – Representative Ro Foege, D-Mount Vernon, said the attacks on Iowa’s education system are never ending as the 2001 legislative session drives to its close. “Earlier this week, higher education was on the chopping block. Today our public schools took a knock-out punch,” Foege said. “I will continue to fight these attacks because I believe that they are harmful to our children, their education and to the future of our state.”

By one vote, the majority party cut $10 million from the successful class size reduction program, $20 million for modern technology and computers in the classrooms, funding for non-public school transportation, and money that is used for a long standing program to enhance teacher compensation. The vote came on a bill referred to as the Standings bill.

This class size reduction program was created just two years ago to reduce class sizes in the early grades so that teachers would be able to devote individual time to helping their students learn to read. “We made a promise to parents that we would make a long-term commitment to improving the reading and writing skills of their children,” Foege noted. “Here we are in just the second year of the program and the majority party is already reneging on this promise.”

“To make matters worse, schools are also going to lose more than $20 
million we assured them would be there to upgrade their outdated computers and to modernize their school technology Foege indicated. “How can schools trust legislators when a promise is made one year and it’s taken back the next?”

Non-public schools also took a hit by losing more than one-half million 
dollars used for transportation. Programs that help the most vulnerable 
at-risk students were reduced by $1 million. Area Education Agencies lose $7.5 million. The educational excellence program will lose some $2 million.

“It is amazing that in a year which began with so much promise for our 
schools and children we are now facing such massive cuts. I opposed a bill today that reduced funding to our schools by more than $40 million,” Foege said. “If this is what happens in a year in which we all agreed on education as our top priority, it is frightening to consider what will happen if education isn’t our top concern.”