School cutting staff, raising taxes next year

Jessica Munsterman knew she wanted to be a music education teacher when she was still a student.

Making the decision was easy. Finding a job wasn't.

Munsterman graduated from the University of Iowa in December 2008. She landed a part-time vocal music position at McKinley Middle School this year - a job she'll lose in two months.

Munsterman is one of several Cedar Rapids schoolteachers who will be without a job at the end of this school year. The district will have 59.5 fewer full-time-equivalent teachers by next school year - 23 of them layoffs - out of a teaching force of 1,456 teachers.

The Cedar Rapids district is not alone in such cuts.

First came the 10 percent across-the-board cuts over the winter, forcing many school districts to dip into reserves. Staff salaries, which account for about 80 percent of a district's budget, were left alone because of contracts.

That protection wasn't there when school boards finalized their 2010-11 budgets last month. Votes to reduce staff, close schools, eliminate services and increase the levy rate were common across the state.

The number of teacher layoffs statewide is unknown, but the National Education Association projects that 747 teachers and 750 support staff will lose their jobs. Most of the reductions are the result of budget constraints and declining student enrollment, and hit in all areas of education.

“Music and the arts did not have a target on its back necessarily, like it was in the 1970s,” said David Law, an instrumental music teacher at Vernon Middle School in Marion and president of the Iowa Music Educators Association and chairman of the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education. “At least this time around, the cuts seemed to be spread a little more equitably.”

Not that it makes the situation easier.

Some teachers receiving layoff notices may get their jobs back over the summer, once schools get a clearer picture of revenues and enrollment. School budgets had to be certified April 15, only 16 days after the 2010 legislative session ended, so school boards went with the best information they had at the time.

“In the Legislature, we took steps to keep the schools moving forward,” said Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport. “We gave school districts permission to spend reserve funds. We increased the per-pupil expenditure by 2 percent (for fiscal 2010-11). We approved $150 million more in state funding for education.”

Lew Finch, former Cedar Rapids school superintendent and now executive director of the Urban Education Network, said the increased spending authority approved by lawmakers wasn't fully funded.

“They forced school boards to raise property taxes,” he said. “The Legislature will say they didn't increase taxes. Yes, they did.”

The property taxes on a $100,000 home in Cedar Rapids, for example, are going up $67.27 next year, $42.19 in Iowa City.

“A 2 percent increase in student spending doesn't necessarily help a district if its enrollment is declining,” said Jeff Berger, a lobbyist for the state Department of Education.

Districts are weighing health insurance, collective bargaining, transportation and utility costs against incoming revenue. They will have a better idea of where they stand in coming months.

Several school boards, including Independence and Oelwein, voted to close schools to save money. The Graettinger and Terril school districts in northwest Iowa will consolidate, while the South Clay district, also in northwest Iowa, will dissolve.

Most education professionals believe it's likely the state will see more school districts consolidate or close in the next five to 10 years.

“The issue of trying to operate as efficiently as possible will require that things be looked at and done differently,” said Dan Smith, executive director of School Administrators of Iowa.

While the state economy is on the upswing, it's unlikely districts are out of the woods. Some education experts believe the 2011-12 school budgets will be just as challenging, especially since federal stimulus dollars will have disappeared.

“The outlook does not look good, unless the governor and General Assembly have the courage to step forward and raise funds for education,” Finch said. “We fully expect more cuts. We fully expect the possibility of an across-the-board cut again.”

Versella James, a fifth-grade teacher at Madison Elementary School, accepted her pink slip with grace. This is her first year teaching in Cedar Rapids, but she's taught for more than a decade. She's concerned about the effect that having fewer teachers will have on learning.

Still, she won't let the situation mar the final weeks of the school year.

“When I go through those doors, I have a smile on my face,” James said.

James is hopeful she'll be called back, but she isn't closed to other possibilities.

“I'm not concerned about not having a job,” she said. “I just don't know what it will be.”

Munsterman, the McKinley vocal teacher, has searched for a full-time teaching position for almost two years. She hopes to remain in Iowa but doesn't know how long she can keep her search local.

“It would be great to stay,” she said.

The state will likely see an exodus of its youngest teachers as individuals relocate for jobs. Law, the Marion teacher, doubts they'll return to Iowa, if they stick with teaching at all.

“We will lose a whole generation of talented, caring educators,” he said.

Munsterman, though, has no regrets about her career choice.

“I don't think I would change anything,” Munsterman said. “It just seems like a really tough time to go into education.”

Eastern Iowa school districts' plans:

• Allamakee: Reduce the Family and Consumer Science program. Realign the TAG, elementary music and elementary art positions. Board members approved cuts in the extended contracts of employees and the discontinuation of summer band lessons.
• College Community: Enacted a one-time early-retirement program, in addition to its regular early-retirement program, to reduce staff. Not all positions will be filled next year.
• Durant: Will eliminate 2.38 full-time-equivalent positions through attrition and freeze building budgets.
• Highland: Enhanced its early-retirement program. One elementary teaching position eliminated through attrition. There will be no summer school or summer custodial help.
• Howard-Winneshiek: Ridgeway Elementary School will close at the end of the school year. Class sizes are predicted to range from 16 to 22 students in kindergarten through fifth grades next year.
• Independence: East Elementary School will close at the end of the school year. The district's middle school students will move to the high school next year.
• Iowa City: Will no longer pay to bus students to Regina, the private school system.
• Linn-Mar: Will eliminate five custodial, three teaching and one secretarial position, and freeze administrative salaries.
• Marion: Superintendent Sarah Pinion's $135,000 annual salary will be reduced by 10 percent. Other administrative salaries will be reduced by 5 percent.
• Oelwein: Harlan Elementary School will close at the end of the school year.
• Tipton: Will cut one teacher and reduce two full-time positions to half-time. Four associate positions will be cut.
• Vinton-Shellsburg: Staff will be reduced. A two-year moratorium was enacted for several secondary activities, including middle school plays and the high school drill team.