Des Moines, IA - Representative Ro Foege said the bill before the Iowa House today was woefully inadequate to meet the needs of Iowa's schools. The bill itself increased state aid to schools by a meager 2% for the 2005-2006 school year - far less than the 4% plus 2% recommended by the Governor and the 6% requested by educators. 

"I had no choice but to oppose this legislation, because it will result in teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, and the elimination of some course offerings," Foege noted. "It will place our quality education system in a precarious position and jeopardize our reputation as a highly educated state. In fact, almost 138 of our districts will actually see their level of state funding decrease from the year before."

"Instead, I supported an amendment that would have provided a 4% increase in state aid and an additional 2% to the special student achievement initiative. At this level, schools would have a more appropriate level of funding. An added plus is that, while schools would get more state money, property taxes would be less."

"Another problem with the bill is that it circumvents local control. This bill takes $10 million off the top and says schools must use the money for textbooks and supplies," Foege said. "Although some schools may need new textbooks, others do not. Nonetheless, all districts will have to buy textbooks, while ignoring other more pressing needs."

"The final flaw in this bill is the change in the way we will set growth for schools in the future. Current law allows us to set this figure 18 months in advance. This permits schools to plan in advance and to negotiate with their employee groups. Today's legislation will change this and will provide schools with just weeks of advance notification before they have to submit their own budgets to state authorities," Foege added.

"This is a bad bill. It jeopardizes the future of our children and our state. It will put at risk our quality schools and will hurt our ability to market our state as an education leader," Foege said. "For these reasons, I voted NO and will urge Governor Vilsack to veto this legislation so that we can try again to get it right."

# # #

Representative Ro Foege
State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50309
ro.foege@legis.state.ia.us
www.rofoege.com
515/281-7328 Legislative Desk
319/895-6043 Home 

-30-