Senator Donahue’s Sept. 27 Newsletter

From the Desk of Senator Donahue

As a public school educator when I am not in Des Moines, I am seeing and hearing first-hand how the governor’s voucher law, AEA law, attendance law, as well as the book banning law have affected the students, their families, and the schools adversely.

There are also unintended consequences like doctors’ offices being swamped by parents needing notes to excuse their children who are ill. Or the county attorney’s office not having the workforce to attend all of the parent hearings for chronic absenteeism for students who have legitimate reasons for being gone.

I get it, attendance is important. I know that first-hand from my experience as an educator. But not all parents are bad parents. We need better ways to deal with families who are chronic abusers, and not do harm to all the others.

The same with books being removed from school shelves. Parents do their jobs well for the most part—they monitor what their kids are doing, reading, watching, saying, etc. That’s their job. Removing literary classics from the shelves also harms the learning opportunities and the critical thinking that has been taught alongside these books for decades. Again, for the few who disagree—they should not dictate for the many.

And again, I get it. Parents have rights, but they’ve always been able to have a different assignment or different opportunities for their kids if they didn’t agree. We should not do harm to all, for the few.

Take the gutting of the AEAs, for example. These were positions and systems in place to make sure that all school districts had equal opportunities for the students regardless of their district size or their funding. Through the “infinite wisdom” of the governor, she has eroded the system built to balance the field, and now urban areas who have more options available to them have better opportunities than those who are in the rural districts, and more personnel to provide those services and programs.

And last but not least, because there are more, but these are the main issues that I’m going to discuss this week—the voucher program.

The governor can play with semantics and call them ESAs (educational savings accounts), but they are vouchers, giving public funding to private schools. This is not how our public taxes were meant to be spent. And they are costing us nearly four times as much as the governor suggested they would—and we haven’t even hit year three yet.

All while she has undercut the funding for public schools for her entire tenure as governor—never meeting the cost-of-living increases or inflation rates. This decision, and others like it, is hurting our rural school districts. From harmful school laws to taxes not being spent on the things they were meant to be spent on, like infrastructure, fire, police, roads, bridges, water quality, conservation, broadband…the list goes on. But instead, she has stockpiled a surplus to utilize as tax giveaways to rich CEOs.

Just remember nearly 500,000 kids are in the public school system being cheated by the governor and the GOP—and 36,000 in private. Who is the GOP working for? Certainly not the majority of the people. And without the funding from President Biden, we would not be able to be fixing the roads and bridges or putting in broadband in rural areas. These are necessities in our communities, and they create jobs for the people.

Iowa deserves far better, and you have an opportunity to make those needed changes in November. I hope that you do!

It’s been an incredibly busy fall, and I expect it to stay that way through the first week in November, and then maybe things will slow down a little bit.

Enjoy this week’s newsletter, and I hope to see you around the district!

A New School Year Brings New Challenges

I recently posted a public survey that asked, “How are policies enacted by Iowa Republican legislators affecting your public schools?” I combed through your survey responses to discover what changes you and your kids are experiencing this school year. Here’s what you said:

By far the biggest change you said was affecting your public schools this year was private school vouchers. Respondents said vouchers are taking money away from public schools, creating an unfair imbalance that favors private schools and larger, urban districts. In rural districts, vouchers are leading to budget cuts, which in turn lead to overburdened teachers, unfilled vacancies, a lack of resources, and teacher burnout.

Over a dozen respondents worried that the state was becoming unwelcoming and unsupportive of teachers and paraeducators. A lack of professional development resources, growing class sizes, and reduced services are leading to teachers leaving Iowa altogether.

Cuts to Iowa’s AEAs were another primary concern. You worried that AEA employees are being stretched too thin and that funding cuts are causing school districts to do more with less.

I hear you.

Iowa’s public schools, especially those in smaller, rural districts, are facing unprecedented challenges this school year. Where we should be eliminating barriers to a child’s success, lawmakers have instead erected new ones.

Not so long ago, Iowa was a national leader in public education. We can get there again. Next session, I will work with my colleagues to strengthen public education that supports students, families, and teachers.

Iowa’s Public School Funding Gap

Iowa’s public education funding lags well behind inflation and our public school kids have been severely shortchanged over the past seven years. This is according to data from Iowa Senator Herman Quirmbach (D-Ames). Sen. Quirmbach, who has a Ph.D. in Economics, worked with the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency to dig deeper into the state’s K-12 funding history since Kim Reynolds became governor. Iowa’s K-12 funding is down $440 million for the 2024-2025 school year when taking into account inflation-adjusted dollars.

An average student entering eighth grade this year has seen their individual education funding shortened by $3,663 since starting first grade. The total shortfall since 2017, under the Reynolds administration, when compared to inflation comes to $2.1 billion.

This chronic underfunding of our public schools must change, our kids deserve better.

Quick Updates

Nursing Homes: The Iowa State Auditor released a report last week that found that the gap between inspections of nursing facilities are 17 months on average, which does not meet federal requirements. The audit report also shows that staffing levels remain low in Iowa, while staff turnover remains high. It’s clear that the nursing home legislative package I co-sponsored with other Senate Democrats needs to be a priority next session.
National Voter Registration Day is a voter registration drive that took place on September 17, 2024. As many as one in four eligible Americans are not registered to vote. Each year, millions of Americans are walled off from the democratic process due to easily solvable issues such as missing a registration deadline or failing to update their registration after moving. If you aren’t sure if your voter registration is up-to-date for November’s election, you can check your registration status here or fill out an online voter registration.
Make a Plan to Vote! Whether you vote absentee by mail, vote early in-person, or vote at the polls on Election Day, make a plan for how and when you are going to vote. You can find voting resources at https://voterready.iowa.gov/.
National Farm to School Month: Iowa Local Food Day, September 25, 2024 is designated as Iowa Local Food Day to kick-off a month-long celebration of bringing locally-grown food to school cafeterias. Local schools are encouraged to serve Iowa-grown or produced items as features in meals. Ask your kids if they noticed locally-grown products for school lunch or continue use Iowa-focused foods at home with some of these suggested Iowa Gold Star Menus.
Walk and Bike to School Day on October 2nd: The Annual Walk is an opportunity to join thousands of other Iowans biking or walking for 30 minutes. Workplaces, schools, organizations, and cities are all encouraged to register a walk for free at Iowa’s Annual Healthiest State Walk.
Business Builder Grants Available for Farm and Food Businesses: Small farms and food entrepreneurs can apply for grants from the United States Department of Agriculture to help reimburse costs related to growth and expansion. Known as the Business Builder Grants, the $3.7 million in funding is made available through the Heartland Regional Food Business Center. Grants are intended to promote business expansion, job creation, business capacity building, and increase local products in the marketplace. ISU Extension and Outreach is one of 34 Heartland Center partners working to fill gaps in resources available to local food and farm businesses that are looking to start and grow. The Heartland Center is accepting applications for its first-round funding through Oct. 15, 2024. Grant proposals will be accepted semi-annually for competitive subawards of $5,000 to $50,000 each. For more information, including a checklist of required application materials, visit the Business Builder Grant program online. Christa Hartsook can be reached at hartc@iastate.edu or 515-294-4430.
Local Schools awarded grants to purchase local fresh food: Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship will provide $2,000 grants to 137 participating school districts or schools to purchase meat, eggs, produce, dairy, and other local foods from area farmers. Launched in 2022, Local Food for Schools (LFS) pairs school lunch programs with a local food hub to connect to area farmers. Through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts, the program facilitates direct relationships between schools, food hubs, and farmers. To find out more information about LFS or how to participate as a vendor, visit the Farm to School and Early Care Network website.
- St. Joseph Catholic School (Marion)
Free Mental Health Counseling: The University of Iowa’s Telepsychology Training Clinic (TPTC) offers free, short-term (5-10 sessions) counseling to Iowans who may have limited access to mental health care. The TPTC is currently accepting referrals for new clients. Please contact scheduling@uitptc.com or 319-535-0437 to inquire about services. Iowans who’d like to use the free service can find more information at the clinic’s website.
Learn More about Work-Based Learning Opportunities: With work-based learning (WBL) programs growing in popularity, Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) has launched a new website with resources for employers, businesses, and schools across Iowa looking to learn more about WBL programs. The website marks the first time Iowans can access all IWD resources related to work-based learning in one place. The website will be a critical entry point for employers looking to start or expand work-based learning programs, schools seeking business partners, and students and adults wanting to learn more about WBL options. Resources, including examples of WBL programs, funding opportunities, and ways to connect or start a new WBL program can be found at https://workforce.iowa.gov/wbl. This resource hub follows the announcement of a new webinar series that will guide a statewide discussion on how to build new WBL programs across industries. The series begins Oct. 1. For more details, visit https://workforce.iowa.gov/wbl-series.
September is National Preparedness Month: Be sure to check out ready.gov and ready.iowa.gov for information on emergency plans and kits. I’m especially a fan of the section for kids that can teach them preparedness through games.

Iowa Senate Democrats