DES MOINES - State officials targeted school construction,property tax relief and professional development money to pay for anew teacher pay system that was to be the centerpiece of thestate's education reform package.
Gov. Terry Branstad said recently that he won't pursue the newfour-tiered pay system as part of education reform this legislativesession because he wanted some more time to promote the changes andget people used to the idea.
Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request showthat in late October, however, the compensation package still wason the table and officials were trying to figure out how to getmoney from other state funds to pay for it.
In one email, Department of Education Director Jason Glass lays outfive possible places the state could divert money and put it intothe new pay proposal. One of the targets was the Secure an AdvancedVision for Education, or SAVE, fund, which he refers to by itsformer acronym of SILO.
"The SILO funds are some real money, and we'd have to do some workto get at them. An argument can be made they are too flush,especially in rural/small districts who are also our worst in termsof pay. Letting this be used for salaries makes some strategicsense," Glass wrote in an email sent to the account of Linda Fandelon Oct. 20. Fandel is the governor's special assistant foreducation policy.
In the email, Glass pegs the value of the fund at $380 million ayear, but that getting at it might be tough.
"Would have a political fight from Master Builders, possibly taxgroups, farm bureau. (The Iowa State Education Association) wouldbe an ally," he wrote.
Diverting the funds for teacher salaries, however, is exactly whatlawmakers were worried about when they changed the SchoolInfrastructure Local Option, or SILO, tax to the non-optional SAVEtax in 2008 and added a penny on every dollar worth of sales in thestate.
Lawmakers included in the statute that the money collected shouldnot be used for "any other purpose" than school infrastructure orproperty tax relief "unless the bill is approved by a vote of atleast two-thirds of the members of both chambers of the GeneralAssembly and is signed by the governor."
The tax brought in $377 million in fiscal year 2010 and $382.8million in fiscal year 2011, according to Department of Revenuefigures.
Iowa State Education Association Executive Director Mary Jane Cobbsaid that "any sort of assumption (of union support is) amischaracterization," and she never discussed SAVE funding as a wayto pay for teacher salaries with members of theadministration.
"We have historically said that it might make sense to look at(using SAVE funds for salaries) in some of the rural districts thataren't growing as quickly," she said.
That's similar to an argument Glass made in his Oct. 20 email andagain last week when asked about it.
"I've been in seven states, and Iowa has some of the nicest, andbest-maintained facilities I have seen anywhere, and that isimportant," Glass said.
But, he said, repurposing tax revenue toward teacher salaries indistricts that are losing population makes sense because they arenot using the money to expand.
"Going into this, we said that everything has to be on the table,"Glass said. "In that email, we were laying out some of the optionsthat might be available."
Other options suggested in the email, and the associated amounts asdetermined by Department of Education staff, were:
n Teacher quality, $3.5 million.
n Professional development, $28 million.
n Class size, $30 million.
n Teacher salary supplement, $250 million.
Glass writes, however, that the class size and teacher salarysupplement money is "not easily repurposed - already insalaries."
Chad Kleppe, director of public affairs and one of two lobbyistsfor the Master Builders trade association, said using SAVE fundsfor salaries wasn't the intention of the law, but the association's"goal is to work with the governor's office."
How much?
State officials haven't said how much they expect the educationreform package to cost the state, even without the teacher salarychange.
Fandel said it wasn't cost that killed the teacher compensationpackage for this year, but it was one of a few reasons - includingthe timing of local union contracts and raising awareness about thenew system - that led to its being taken out of the mix thisyear.
Now, she said, the administration is looking toward the Decemberrevenue estimates, which should give state officials a better ideaof how much growth, if any, the state can expect in its tax funds.Those estimates are due on Dec. 15.
The more new revenue, the less state officials would have to try toshuffle around existing funds to pay for the parts of the educationreform package that are still being considered for this legislativesession. Those proposals include a mandatory pass/fail third-gradereading test, a mandatory ACT exam and a new teacher evaluationsystem.
Cobb, the union leader, said what troubles her more than the statelisting funds to repurpose is a line in which Glass says who wouldgain the most out of the new pay system.
"Basically, we've got to get districts to re-use the money theyhave to create the master and mentor roles then force them tocompress the scales," Glass wrote. "In that scenario, winners areMasters/Mentors and newer teachers. Losers are veteran teachers whowill have smaller raises if both these things occur."
Said Cobb, "He's picking winners and losers, which is why when welook at this, we have to look at lifetime earnings of teachers ...This is why we have held off on any statements until we see theactual legislation."
Glass, meanwhile, is sticking to his guns. He said he expects somepushback as the reform package moves forward.
"We can't be afraid to take on these political fights if we haveto," he said.
留言列表
