Lawmakers visiting Cedar Rapids Jefferson lobby for more education funding

CEDAR RAPIDS - Three state lawmakers called for increased state education funding on Monday during a visit to Jefferson High School.

The 90-minute visit, which included a tour of the school and discussion with teachers and students, gave the legislators a chance to see the classroom-level impacts of state funding decisions, State Rep. Todd Taylor said.

'I'm literally counting desks, counting kids - visually seeing class size,” Taylor said.

Taylor, State Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt and state Sen. Wally Horn visited the school Monday morning. All three Democrats represent some part of Cedar Rapids. Horn is a former Jefferson teacher and Taylor is a Jefferson alumnus.

Iowa State Education Association President Tammy Wawro, Cedar Rapids Education Association President Tania Johnson and Cedar Rapids Community School District superintendent David Benson also attended.

The Iowa State Legislature has been debating school funding levels this month, with House Republicans support a 1.25 percent funding increase for next year. Senate Democrats support a 4 percent increase.

Taylor said Monday the final number likely will be in between those two levels.

'It's got to move up from 1.25 (percent),” he said.

Horn agreed.

'We want to keep funding education the way it should be,” he told students.

At Jefferson on Monday, the legislators spoke with students in the school's Option program, which allows students to get additional lessons in math, science, and language arts and spend time in a project-based curriculum for part of the year. The program is part of the district's innovation efforts, which include the Iowa BIG high school and the Roosevelt Option program at Roosevelt Middle School.

Trace Pickering, the district's associate superintendent, told legislators low funding increases - which administrators say would not match salary increases - could hurt those initiatives.

'Guess which gets cut first?” Pickering said. 'Innovation is the first thing to get chopped.”

Jefferson language arts teacher Kevin Darrow, who teaches in the program, said any increases in class size would hurt teachers.

'If our class numbers get above 30, we just can't do the things logistically that we'd like to do,” Darrow said. The Option program includes about 85 students, the teachers said, with three instructors.

Running-Marquardt told students the legislators would continue to advocate for them.

'We want to make sure we're fighting for and doing right by you,” she said.