It wasn’t just any Saturday in 2019. The morning of January 12 saw the first snow of the new year and the thickest blanket of the season. Getting to Hubbell Elementary School required shovels, boots and careful driving or walking. Still, parents and educators alike filled the library until it was a cozy, standing room only. Des Moines School Board members who host the monthly Community Legislative Action Team coffees were smiling bigger than the plow drivers excited to push through the challenges waiting ahead.

The 60+ fledgling activists and experienced policy hounds packed in to talk to nine legislators, who also committed their Saturday morning, just days ahead of the start of the 2019 Iowa Legislative Session, to talk about education priorities and the challenges they would likely face at the Statehouse. Attendees included State Representatives Ako Abdul-Samad, Marti Anderson, Karin Derry, Bruce Hunter, Kenan Judge, Jennifer Konfrst, Brian Meyer, and Jo Oldson and State Senator Claire Celsi.*

Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ahart welcomed the crowd and explained how the lack of adequate funding for students over the years has lead us to a dire place, and what the consequences of another year of inadequate funding would mean for the largest school district in Iowa. The risks, Ahart said, include more reduction of staff, larger class sizes and more challenges overcoming student achievement obstacles.

“We have to get legislators to stop seeing education as an expense and start treating it as an investment,” Dr. Ahart told the crowd.

The Community Legislative Action Team laid out four major priorities for the 2019 Iowa Legislative Session:

• EXPAND SUPPORT FOR OUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: Increase weighted English Language Learner (ELL) funding to .39, in accordance with evidence-based practice and as recommended by the 2013 task force report on ELL education in Iowa. (Download a PDF with further details on expanding support for ELL education.)
• EXPAND PRESCHOOL FUNDING FOR CHILDREN IN POVERTY: Increase in weighted funding in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) for children living at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. (Download a PDF with further details on expanding preschool for children in poverty.)
• EXTEND SAVE SALES TAX FOR SCHOOLS: School buildings in Des Moines average over 65 years old, so we continue to have a great need for security updates, repairs and renovations; in some cases, even new buildings. Because we have reached the bonding ceiling for the current Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) money, it is critical that action be taken to either remove or extend the sunset. (Download a PDF with further details on why continuing the sales tax is important for our schools.)
• REVISE AT-RISK AND DROPOUT PREVENTION FUNDING: Change state per pupil funding allocation based on need. Recognize at-risk student challenges by providing additional weighting in the foundation formula for students qualifying for free/reduced lunch.

Legislators, parents and educators shared concerns and exchanged ideas for more than an hour that morning, with most vowing to keep fighting for Iowa’s public schools. They offered an answer to the often-heard talking point that schools are receiving historic funding.

“What they don’t tell you is that the way Iowa’s school funding is set up, you could contribute one penny and be providing ‘historic funding’ for schools,” Rep. Hunter said. “Education expenses are at an historic high, and what the state has put into education over the past several years hasn’t even been close to meeting their basic needs.”

“We have to keep fighting,” Rep. Samad said told the crowd. “Don’t give up.”

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Photos from DMPS Legislative Coffee at Hubbell Elementary School

*Members of all political parties are personally invited to CLAT’s monthly coffees. Those listed above accepted and attended January’s coffee.