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Letter: Talk cheap, results not with public education
Op-Ed · March 26, 2015


Many people say they want our children to get a “world class education” so they can compete and succeed in an increasingly high tech and competitive world.


Problem is, voters keep electing a governor and like-minded legislators who have other priorities. The result is that Iowa has fallen to 35th in spending per pupil and our national ranking as an educational leader is declining.

Iowa’s revenue is projected to grow by 4.9 percent ($330 million) in 2015-16 so why is the governor proposing only 1.25 percent or $44 million of that new money for K-12 education at a time when they need 4 percent to maintain the status quo?

The reason is the commercial property tax reduction the governor had to have for large corporations in 2013 and the promise he made to backfill the counties’ and cities’ losses. In 2015-16 that amounts to $281 million out of the general fund which is now unavailable for K-12 education. He claims he’s giving $100 million but that includes $50 million for his school reform plan which can’t be used to operate schools.

This and future property tax reductions and credits will only add to public education’s misery and there’s no guarantee the state will get 4.9 percent or more revenue growth every year. Prepare for years of teacher layoffs, increased class size and loss of programs, which is exactly what I predicted in a letter to this paper on Feb. 29, 2012, when it was first proposed.

This is precisely what the anti-tax/anti-government movement has been after for years and what the majority of your neighbors voted for in recent elections. Tax cuts for corporations like Walmart, John Deere, Wellmark, McDonald’s and IBM at the expense of public education, good roads, clean water, mental health and the future of our children.

If you have been reading the Tipton teacher profiles in the Tipton Conservative sponsored by Tipton Education Boosters, it would be obvious that our teachers really care about educating our children. Shouldn’t we care at least as much about providing them with decent pay and support for what they are doing for our children?

Larry Hodgden, Tipton