(Ankeny, Iowa) – Dr. Stephanie Anderson, Superintendent  of the Riverside Community School District, reports member school districts of the Rural School Advocates of Iowa (RSAI) convened their Annual Meeting on Tues., Oct. 17, at 4:30 PM at the FFA Enrichment Center, in Ankeny. RSAI advocates on behalf of the students, parents and communities in rural Iowa to ensure all students have access to a great Iowa education, regardless of where they live. RSAI members include 187 Iowa school districts, several of which are among the largest geographic school districts in the state. All nine area education agencies, Iowa’s three Regents’ Universities and Des Moines Area Community College are affiliate members of RSAI.

Adequate School Resources: State Supplemental Assistance, or SSA, was a top priority for RSAI members, since this funding supports the very survival of rural schools. Last month, Gov. Reynolds announced Iowa’s Fiscal Year 2023 surplus of $1.83 billion in the General Fund, plus $902 million in reserve funds and $2.74 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund. Attendees discussed the impact on rural schools if additional tax cuts are made rather than directing a portion of the State’s combined coffers totaling over $4.6 Billion to public schools. Despite the state’s fiscal strength and high inflation, the Legislature set a modest increase of 3.0% per student last year. The state’s increases in revenues per student have lagged rural school costs of educating students in 13 of the last 14 years.

Dan Rold, the Riverside School Business Official, indicated, the continued underfunding of SSA, especially when compared to ever increasing inflation, has essentially resulted in an effective pay cut for school districts and staff.  This will continue to exacerbate already existing problems with school districts’ ability to attract and retain qualified staff.  Many districts have already been forced to dramatically increase salaries for staff at all levels and classifications in order to attract applicants for open positions.  Fund flexibility is an extremely temporary solution to this problem, as funds that are used for annual salaries will be unsustainable as those balances are depleted.  The other option is to completely abandon programs that the state itself considered high priorities only a few years ago, in order to permanently utilize those funds for general salaries.  Rold says the ultimate losers in all of this are the students, as they will receive a lower quality education than they otherwise would with adequately funded public schools.  The future negative societal impact of a lower quality education far outweighs the immediate financial benefit of withholding adequate funding for schools.

Staff Shortages: is also high on the list of priorities for rural schools who are struggling to recruit and retain great teachers, paraeducators, bus drivers and staff. Although adequate funding would help make school employees’ pay competitive with other jobs, it would not alone be enough. Attendees discussed the need for school leaders and state officials to change the culture of political speech; to restore education to a respected profession. Amanda Brandon, 6-12 Vocal and Band Teacher at Riverside shared, Staff shortages have led to increased workload and reduced specialized instruction for students as I have combined roles as a band, choir, and stage production teacher. It is affecting the overall quality of rehearsals, performances, and student engagement and may even lead to teacher burnout.

RSAI members also affirmed the following issues as priorities for the 2024 Legislative Session:

• Oppose expansion of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) to homeschool and support: 1) a level playing field, 2) oversight of ESA, and 3) funding to follow students to public school who withdraw from private school.
• Opportunity Equity, Increased Student Needs and Mental Health resources.
• Quality Preschool including 1.0 weighting for full-day programs.
• Extension of Whole Grade Sharing, Reorganization and Operational Sharing Incentives.
• Local School Board Authority rather than state-directed mandates.
• School Foundation Formula Equity to close the per pupil funding gap within 10 years.
• Bond Issue Elections limited to November (Oppose) and Simple Majority vote (support).
• Supported Area Education Agencies (AEAs) and the services they provide to rural schools.
• Resources: Position Papers on key issues and a Digest of the 2023 Legislative Session are available on the RSAI legislative website at: http://www.rsaia.org/legislative.html