JOHNSTON, Iowa — Gov. Terry Branstad on Friday called for scrapping Iowa's decades-old system of allocating money to schools on a per-pupil basis and replacing it with a system that focuses on improved results.
"I think we should get away from 'allowable growth' and instead make our decisions based on providing money to improve education," Branstad told reporters after a taping of "Iowa Press." "If you keep doing something the same way and you don't get good results, it says maybe you'd better try something different."
Steve Burgett, 64, of Des Moines, a father of two and grandfather of three, agreed that schools need to look for ways to improve, but he said change isn't as simple as some politicians make it seem.
"What I'd like to see is the money be distributed differently," Burgett, a business consultant, told IowaPolitics.com. "I think more of it needs to go to those things that really impact our future, and that's got to be kids more than anything else."
Iowa adopted its school foundation formula in 1971, with distribution of school funding on a per-pupil basis. Then, in 1992, it established its system of allowable growth, in which the state sets a yearly limit on the amount school districts can increase their budgets. Money comes from state funding and property taxes.
Schools rely on funding from allowable growth to pay for everything from teacher salaries and health insurance to milk for students.
"That's sort of the cost-of-living adjustment for schools. That's the inflation adjustment," said Mary Jane Cobb, executive director of the Iowa State Education Association, which represents more than 34,000 educators. "You think about what it costs to put gas in a car, what it costs for fuel in school buses. That expense alone has gone up exponentially. Rural districts are busing students farther, with more consolidation."
But, Branstad argued, in the decades that Iowa has been fighting over allowable growth, the state's test scores have been stagnant, and other states have moved ahead of Iowa.
Senate Democrats this week began moving forward with a proposal for 4 percent allowable growth for the 2013-14 school year. That would cost the state $142.6 million in fiscal 2014 and $14.6 million for "categorical" funding, which includes class-size reduction, professional development and supplemental money for teacher salaries.
Cobb said school districts need to know the allowable growth rate in advance so they can plan, lock in tax rates, certify budgets and enter into contracts with staff.
"We've been living under zero percent allowable growth this year, 2 percent next year. Four percent is needed," she said. "It's time that we move past that and start moving into a period of growth in our schools again. Put the art program back, add that additional math teacher, reduce class sizes."
Education groups last spring said schools have endured three years of budget cuts and predicted that no growth in school funding would lead to 1,500 teachers being laid off.
But data from the Iowa Department of Education show the number of Iowa full-time teachers has remained steady for the past decade, despite Iowa schools experiencing their 14th consecutive year of declining student enrollment. The state had 33,916 full-time teachers in 2010-11, up slightly from the 33,878 full-time teachers in 2001-02.
Branstad said he doesn't support the plan for 4 percent allowable growth in 2013-14. His focus is on reforming Iowa's education system, which this year would include retaining third-graders who can't read and requiring high school students to take an end-of-course exam before they graduate. In future years, the plan calls for changing Iowa's teacher compensation system and lengthening the school day and the school year.
"These are going to cost some money, and I think we ought to target our resources in education to things that are going to improve student achievement, instead of just focusing on the old battle over allowable growth," Branstad said.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale, has said the governor's plan could cost between $200 million and $300 million in fiscal 2014. But, Cobb said, the governor's plan to reform education initially is expected to cost $25 million, and it shouldn't prevent a decision on basic school funding.
Burgett predicted that education reform, and especially moving Iowa to a four-tier teacher compensation system — in which pay would be based on performance instead of seniority — would be difficult.
"If it's just based on (student) achievement, then you're going to have to look at how the kids are when they come in to the classroom, because the teacher's not really responsible for all of that and can't be," Burgett said. "It would be like the governor being responsible for the achievement of all the people in Iowa, compared to all the people in Minnesota."
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