It only includes a $6.3 million increase to state school aid. It doesn’t take into consideration allowable growth something that Jason Glass, director of the Iowa Department of Education, said is up to the Legislature to decide. He wanted to avoid making that recommendation. Kudos to him for that. I can safely assume that means the Department’s lobbyist will stay mum on the topic when it is up for discussion this coming session of the Iowa General Assembly right? The Register notes that an additional 2% will cost the state $55 million. We can be sure teacher’s unions and others will cry for more money though that isn’t the answer.
Another thing that it leaves off is education reform. Jason Noble reported that The Des Moines Register projection is $177 million. I haven’t seen that and I’m not sure what it includes. Assessments that the Department would like to implement will cost money. We still are not certain how much implementing the Smarter Balanced Assessment Coalition assessment that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards will cost the state.
Glass said those components are still being crafted and included in legislation.