Will Reynolds reiterate in her speech today that schools are “very fortunate” to receive one fourth of the funding they requested?

Today, Governor Kim Reynolds is addressing the School Administrators of Iowa. However, throughout her tenure in the executive branch, Reynolds has been no friend to our schools or our children’s education.

When students head back to school in a few weeks, their classrooms will be facing greater challenges than ever before because of Governor Reynolds’ negligence.

“Governor Reynolds negligent attitude toward our Iowa Public Schools is not only an insult to those who work so hard every day to educate our kids, but it’s putting Iowa’s future in danger,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price. “The Reynolds Administration assault on our schools has put school districts in jeopardy, placed a greater burden on families, and left our children by the wayside. We should be finding ways to invest in our kids, not funding corporate tax breaks with their future.”

As the Des Moines Register reported Reynolds only produced a “miserable” 1.1 percent increase in K-12 funding, while educators requested a 4 percent increase.

A Quad-City Times editorial called the move a “laughably insufficient 1.1 percent boost in total education funding, which amounts to a cut when inflation is considered.”

Reynolds inability to fund our education system has resulted in deep cuts to our local Iowa schools. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, “The 1.1 percent increase in basic state aid approved for K-12 districts next school year is paltry by historic standards and just half what Gov. Terry Branstad proposed.”

Bob Olson, superintendent of Clarion Goldfield Dows Schools who is also the chairman of Rural School Advocates of Iowa, said on the budget “An increase of 1.11 percent…is not sufficient to fund the demands of school districts without further cutting staff and programs for students.”

In Marion, parent Mark Bussell told Iowa Public Radio “The proposed budget increase of 1.11 percent is not in the best interests of our students… Does this budget make the grade? No. It seems obvious that our educators and our students will suffer because of these actions taken by our state legislature.’”

Reynolds took this failure a step further by telling teachers and kids they were “very fortunate” to receive the 1.1 percent increase and has not ruled out making further cuts to Iowa schools.