A difficult time for teachers

I'm not an educator, although I work with these professionals every day and am a great admirer of their commitment and desire to have a positive impact on future generations.

I am the director of the Cedar Rapids Education Association (CREA) - which is the teacher's union that represents all public educators in the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

I ask our members why they do what they do, and usually get a variation of the answer, 'because I can make a difference in my student's lives”. It is hard to understand why those with such a noble professional purpose are treated with such disrespect.

Look at No Child Left Behind. This federal law unnecessarily and negatively labels a school 'failing” even though teachers and administrators in these buildings are doing amazing and effective work, and are making extraordinary progress with their kids. This past January, Governor Branstad's State of the State address was littered with words about making education a top priority. Yet his education budget proposal to the legislature was woefully inadequate.

Republican House Speaker Kraig Paulsen has repeatedly said Iowa's budget cannot support money for our schools - a year after giving $250 million in tax breaks to businesses and corporations. Regardless of these and many more challenges, educators still manage to have a critical and positive impact on future generations.

Despite all odds, Iowa's Pre K-12 schools continue to rank among the best in the country with our Cedar Rapids High Schools ranking at or near the top in many important national rankings.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District has a long history of excellent schools.

The task of maintaining that reputation of excellence in the face of declining enrollment and dwindling state aid is falling exclusively on the shoulders of educators in the classroom.

Our CRCSD student population has become more challenging at the same time that Governor Branstad and his party has systematically starved our schools of the funds they need to meet these growing challenges.

The four prongs of inadequate state aid, increased pressures from national educational initiatives, staff reductions each year for the last six years, and far more challenging student behavior have all come together to squeeze the life out of our heroic teachers. The current education funding proposal from Iowa House Republicans of 1.25 percent in State Supplemental Aid is woefully inadequate and will result in even larger classes, program and curricular cuts, and cuts to quality educators in our buildings.

Larger class sizes mean less time to spend with each student, more behaviors to contend with, and less overall learning for the class. This will undoubtedly lead to more parents moving their kids out of the school district, which, due to the per-pupil funding formula, only compounds the problems we face.

Going into overtime because the House and Senate cannot agree on an education budget, there still is time to make your voice heard.

Call Governor Branstad at 515-281-5211 or House Speaker Kraig Paulsen at 515-281-3521. Tell them that our students need the best we can offer. Tell them that our teachers are doing a great job and both could use a little help with some decent funding to avoid the sixth year in a row of staff reductions and class size increases.

Tell them that in a state where revenues are growing by 6 percent, their meager 1.25 percent in school funding is shameful. We must demand they do better - our kids are counting on us!

' Kim Miller is the Director of the Cedar Wood UniServ Unit, affiliated with the Iowa State Education Association and the National Education Association. He represents teachers and para educators at Cedar Rapids Community School District, and faculty at Kirkwood Community College. Comments: kmiller@isea.org