Attitude is critical in all we do. I believe mine is similar to most in the
field of education. I’m passionate and
positive about serving the students and families at CCA specifically and Iowa
in general. While I agree that throwing
money at something, in this case education, does not necessarily make it
better; it is true that making improvements often does have a cost.
Per Iowa Code, State Supplementary Aid is to be established
by the Legislature within 30 days of the start of the session. This hasn’t happened for the last several
years. The FY 17 funding should have
been established in February 2015; instead our FY 16 funding was established on
July 2. FY 17 funding for Iowa schools
is still unknown. Yes, this is
frustrating as we attempt to plan to best utilize our fiscal resources to meet
the needs of our students. Iowa schools
were obligated to approve our FY 16 budgets in April, without knowing what our
revenues would be until after the start of FY 16.
CCA has traditionally placed a great deal of importance on
maintaining small class sizes. With
funding levels from the State that do not keep pace with inflation, we will be
forced to increase class sizes. We have
also worked to continually improve the educational process with updated instructional
materials, professional development for staff, and new programs for
students. Without funding we cannot
continue to develop the educational offerings to our students, as we would
like. Things like summer programming for
struggling learners, new instructional materials, Project Lead the Way courses,
transportation for student clubs, targeted trainings for staff, etc. all have
to be reevaluated, and when the fiscal resources aren’t available, students
will have to get by with materials and teacher skills currently available.
For CCA, 1.25% State Supplemental Aid will result in a
projected decline in our Unspent Balance of approximately $600,000 in FY
16. While our Unspent Balance will still
be in solid shape at just under $7 million, we cannot continue to cut into our
Unspent Balance on a regular basis. The Board
and administrative team will have to make some tough decisions heading into FY
17. While State Supplemental Aid for FY
17 is unknown, the Legislature and Governor sent a clear message this year, so
planning for somewhere in the 0 – 2 % range is probably realistic. While CCA is in the relatively rare situation
of having a growing enrollment, these levels of State Supplemental Aid will not
support the levels of staffing that CCA students, families, and staff have been
accustomed to.
There are several positive things happening in education at
CCA and around the State. CCA is
implementing the Teacher Leadership and Compensation program this year. This program from the State will be used to
fund six instructional coaches in the district that will support teachers in
implementing best practices into their classrooms, as well as approximately 40
Professional Learning Community Facilitators who will help to ensure that our
PLC’s continue to develop and function at a high level in meeting student
learning needs. This program will help
support the learning of students throughout the district. The funding is there for this program, but
the Task Force that worked on its development cautioned the Legislature that it
is not an “instead of” for funding the regular programs at Iowa schools. Another positive has been a focus on early
literacy. CCA is currently in our second
year of providing summer school for young students who need extra support for
developing their literacy skills. In the
summer of 2017 students in third grade who are not proficient on the Iowa
Assessments will be required to be retained in third grade, or complete the
summer school program. Schools around
the State have also been working to ensure the implementation of the Iowa Core
Curriculum, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, Science Technology Engineering and
Math curriculums, etc. in order to meet the needs of our PK-12 learners.
While I am disheartened and frustrated by the actions and
inactions toward education by the Iowa Legislature and Governor, I am also
excited by the many positive things happening in PK-12 education at CCA and
around the State. I will continue to
work to ensure that the students of CCA get the best possible learning
experience with the resources available.
I will continue to advocate on behalf of CCA and PK-12 public education
as a whole. I will continue to publicize
the many great things happening, as well as the challenges we face.
Educationally yours,
Tim Kuehl
