Full House Welcomes Gov, LG to Talk Education Reform

Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds presided at a town hall meeting on the subject of their blueprint for education reform on Saturday morning in the multi-purpose room at Central Campus. A standing-room-only crowd of concerned teachers, administrators, parents and community members was in attendance and responded to Branstad’s and Reynolds’ remarks with questions and comments about the ways and means of their plan’s implementation.

School Board President Teree Caldwell-Johnson welcomed the pair to this stop on their tour of the state since first unveiling their sweeping proposal in October. She emphasized to the crowd that this stage of the reform process is only the beginning and encouraged everyone to remain engaged throughout. Branstad and Reynolds have said the plan will be tweaked based on the feedback gathered during the town hall tour and will have a price tag attached to it by the time they formally propose it to the state legislature.

At this point it’s not clear how their reform agenda will be accomplished under the constraints of the two-year state budget Branstad pushed for a year ago which calls for zero percent growth in education funding the first year and two percent growth in year two. FY 2012 represents the first time in the history of the “allowable growth” state aid formula, adopted in 1973, that the legislature has appropriated zero allowable growth in state aid. 

One of the key elements of the Branstad/Reynolds blueprint that was the subject of several questions and comments Saturday calls for retention of third grade students who are struggling with literacy. The end to what’s being called social promotion would be accompanied by an array of intensive interventions designed to catch kids up and is being modeled on a similar program in Florida that has shown promise so far. Florida’s governor has also proposed $1 billion in additional spending on education there despite that state’s budget deficit and vows to veto any budget bill that doesn’t call for substantially increased education funding.

Iowa ‘s coffers reflected a surplus of nearly half a billion dollars at the end of FY 2011, a figure that is projected to grow in FY 2012 and 2013.

In response to one questioner Branstad pledged that preschool, smaller class sizes and interventions in grades K-2 will be priorities under whatever reform package emerges from citizen and legislative scrutiny.

The Iowa General Assembly convenes next month for the 2012 legislative session.