Don’t take ‘candy’ from politicians

One of our first warnings for children is,“Don’t take candy from strangers.” Iowans need to remember this when politicians offer their political “candy.” Lurking behind the sweetness is bitter truth.

When Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds tells what she’ll do, we should believe her. She’s shown us she’s not shy about getting her way. We’re a one-party state with no check and balance fresh from a voter mandate. Legislators may tinker around the edges, but she gets what she wants unless public protest demonstrates the mandate was a mirage.

She’s already cut state income tax and in January the income tax rate will be 3.8%. Her goal is to eliminate state income tax completely by 2027. For 2025, she’s promised to slash property taxes.

Doesn’t it sound sweet?

It does until the sugar rush wears off and there’s a crash. The latest tax revenue estimates show Iowa will collect $1 billion less in income tax revenue over 24 months. I can hear the cheers from those craving small government. But their love for small government lasts until a storm hits and they look for big government help.

No doubt, cutting property taxes is popular. Every time I get my bill I groan. But before we start gobbling “candy,” public schools depend on property taxes for funding, and so do cities and counties. Reynolds hasn’t said how she’ll fund schools and other essential local services when property tax revenues evaporate like income tax revenue.

As Paul Harvey would say, “That’s the rest of the story.” But Reynolds has a history of throwing out candy leaving a bitter taste. Here are some examples.

Remember, the “candy” she offered when she sold private school vouchers as “parental choice.” But it wasn’t about parental choice at all. It was about giving religious and for-profit schools choice.

Private schools can pick and choose kids they accepted even if the kid had the $7,826 state voucher in hand. Private schools could also choose to raise tuition even after state funding. The average increase was $1,280 for kindergarten and $830 for higher grades. Vouchers allowed unaccountable choice on how to spend public money for private gain.

This “candy” was expensive. It’s been over budget since the beginning. For next year, 30,000 voucher requests have been approved, so the price tag will be a minimum of $235 million, a whopping $55 million over budget. This also damaged individual school districts. For example, Johnston and Urbandale public schools each lost $1 million in funding for vouchers.

She dangled “candy” in front of cash-craving school superintendent’s by telling them she’d give them more control over Area Education Agency (AEA) funds in a “pay for Service model.” AEA essential services were gutted. Five hundred AEA employees left. We still don’t know the full impact of this sugar high, but it won’t be the same.

Here’s a personal example. My grandson has been in speech since he started public school. He improved because of dedicated AEA speech and language pathologists. This year, he didn’t have an AEA person. He was alone in a room and speech was over Zoom. Thankfully, he had improved enough so he could exit speech.

There’s an old dental warning,“Candy is dandy, until it rots your teeth.” Let’s not let Iowa schools rot from Reynolds’ “Candy.”

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City, taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until he retired. BruceLear2419@gmail.com