Deidre DeJear proposes $300M to public schools, 4% annual increases

DES MOINES — Iowa’s K-12 public school system would receive an immediate $300 million infusion of state funding under an education policy plan announced Wednesday by Deidre DeJear, the Democratic candidate for governor.

DeJear, a businesswoman from Des Moines, is challenging Republican incumbent Kim Reynolds, who has been Iowa’s governor since 2017.

Rick Stewart is the Libertarian Party candidate for governor.

DeJear published her education policy proposal on Wednesday and spent the morning at Capitol View Elementary School in Des Moines, where she met with teachers, students and staff.

Under DeJear’s plan, she would as governor propose an additional $300 million in state funding to K-12 public schools. The funding would come from the state’s budget surplus of roughly $1.2 billion.

Such funding would need to be approved by the Iowa Legislature.

“That would at least get us to a status quo level (of funding). And I know those are resources that all of our school districts could put to use immediately,” DeJear said Wednesday at the school. “We should be able to accommodate that. There was no reason why we shouldn’t have done it during the (2022) legislative cycle and prioritized that.”

DeJear’s plan also proposes annual 4 percent increases in state funding each year for public schools.

State general aid for public schools increased an average of 5 percent annually from 1973, when the current funding system was created, through 2010, according to state data.

Since 2011, when Republicans gained control of at least one chamber of the Iowa Legislature, general public school funding has increased by an annual average of 1.9 percent.

“We know that our systems are grossly being underfunded. We’re not even meeting the level of inflation,” DeJear said.

Reynolds and Republican state legislators point to other increases in school funding approved under their watch, such as money to ease districts’ transportation costs.

Reynolds’ campaign declined to comment on DeJear’s plan, but the Republican Party of Iowa issued a statement praising Reynolds for approving annual school funding increases and leading the push to get students back in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Under Gov. Reynolds’ leadership, Iowa’s students are on a better path,” state GOP party chairman Jeff Kaufmann said. “Iowa’s students were allowed in the classroom to learn and work alongside their peers — instead of falling behind like students across the country. With a strong budget surplus, historic tax cuts, and more money going toward public education every year, Iowans should vote on the facts, not the Democrats’ false promises.”

Reynolds has spent the past two years pushing for taxpayer funding for private school tuition assistance, and has pledged to bring the proposal back to state lawmakers again next year. Her proposal would initially reach 10,000 students and cost the state roughly $55 million.

DeJear’s education policy also includes proposals to restore “and enhance” collective bargaining rights for public worker unions; increase compensation for teachers, administration and support staff; expand to at least 30 hours per week of universal pre-K for every 3- and 4-year-old; and invest in trade programs in public schools.

For those proposals that would require state funding, the policy does not say how the state would fund the programs.

“We’ve got to invest in our system and prioritize our taxpayer dollars to do good in our system,” DeJear said.

The election is Nov. 8. Early voting starts Oct. 19.

Caleb McCullough of the Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this story.

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