116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa legislators should fund or delay new mandated K-12 programs
Iowa's public schools cannot afford and shouldn't be asked to absorb new unfunded state mandates, especially when budgets are so tight they already are looking at yet another year of cuts to operating expenses.
Legislators must either find the funds needed to administer new, more expensive K-12 student assessments and third grade intensive summer literacy programs, or table the requirements until funding is available.
The State Board of Education voted in November to switch student testing from the long-used Iowa Assessments to a program known as Smarter Balanced. While the new tests offer a computer-adaptive platform that better aligns with Common Core standards and other federal education policy, the tests come with a steep price increase. Full implementation will cost districts about $27 per student, where the Iowa Assessments cost about $7 per student.
Cedar Rapids Schools Superintendent Brad Buck, who supports the switch, told The Gazette that Smarter Balanced assessments, with a price tag estimated at $265,000 over the current cost for assessments, will further strain his district's budget - which must already be cut by $2.3 million next year.
Statewide, the assessment will cost school districts about $10 million - money lawmakers have not earmarked in the current budget. That's in addition to the estimated $14 million it will cost districts to prepare new intensive summer literacy programs for third-graders who need extra help reading at grade level.
Intensive summer literacy programs focused on struggling Iowa third-graders are important, but new programming costs money. Although the program was signed into law in 2012, Gov. Terry Branstad did not include funding for it in his most recent budget estimate. Lawmakers have also not included it, or the assessments, in their most recent budget negotiations.
More closely matching assessments with standards and with making sure every child can read are important goals that demand significant resources. Both programs have been touted as important tools to increase student learning. If that's the case, then they also should be enough of a priority to warrant financial investment.
Lawmakers should find the money to implement them, or shelve the mandates until they are able to do so.
' Gazette editorials reflect the consensus opinion of The Gazette Editorial Board. Share your comments and ideas with us: (319) 398-8469; editorial@thegazette.com
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this editorial incorrectly identified the body which selected Smarter Balanced assessments last November.
Arthur Elementary School third grade teacher Carmen Girdner works with a small group during a reading lesson in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. Girder works with small groups based on reading level during the Daily 5, in which students rotate between reading group, reading to themselves, reading to someone else, word work and working on writing. Third grade reading assessments help guide instruction as students enter fourth grade. Iowa's new third-grade reading and retention policy, which would require schools to put students through summer school or hold them back if they don't score high enough on reading tests, takes effect in 2017. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
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