In their opening proposals for the legislative session, Governor Reynolds and Iowa Republicans put education on the chopping block to preserve the huge taxpayer handouts to special interests that led to the Reynolds Budget Crisis.
“Iowa’s kids shouldn’t have to pay the tab for Governor Reynolds’ mismanagement of the budget, but that’s just what she and the Republican legislature are forcing them to do,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price. “By taking a hatchet to education instead of evaluating the effectiveness of the massive taxpayer handouts she gave to her special interest allies, Kim Reynolds shows just how warped her priorities really are.”
K-12 Education
Republicans are poised to make cuts to K-12 schools by refusing to match funding with rising operating costs. Their consistent underfunding of education resulted in the closures of 105 schools since Reynolds started in the Executive Branch and caused massive cuts in school districts across the state. Case in point: the Des Moines School District is looking at an $11 million cut if the Republican plan is approved.
Rural school districts are grappling with the added cost of transportation. Instead of restoring funding, lawmakers are instead considering making rural kids spend hours each day on the school bus to allow for more school consolidation.
Higher Education
Governor Reynolds heavily targeted Iowa’s higher education system in her proposed mid-year budget cuts, despite warnings that resources are already depleted.
Iowa Legislative Republicans followed Governor Reynolds’ lead and took it a step further. They proposed cutting $5.4 million from community colleges and $19.2 million from the Regents University system. Similar cuts last year resulted in burdensome tuition increases for Iowa families, and all indications are that it will happen again should the Republicans get their way.