ESAs, AEAs are key topics at legislative forum

   Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) and changes to Area Education Agency (AEA) funding were among the most talked-about topics during a legislative forum held Dec. 4 at Monticello High School.

   Four legislators were on hand for the 90-minute event: Sen. Carrie Koelker, District 33 (R-Dyersville); Sen. Charlie McClintock, District 42 (R-Alburnett); Sen. Dan Zumbach, District 34 (R-Ryan), and Rep. Cindy Golding (District 83), R-Palo.  

   Administrators and/or school board members from several area school districts attended and were invited to ask questions. They included those from Monticello, Maquoketa Valley, Anamosa, Western Dubuque, Lisbon, Alburnett, Central City, Mount Vernon, North Linn and Independence.

   One topic all four legislators addressed came after a question about Education Savings Accounts (ESA), which provide tuition funds for students to attend private schools.

   The question, which came from Western Dubuque Community Schools Superintendent Dan Butler, involved both accountability standards in terms of student achievement, and which kids are allowed into the private schools and which are not.

   While the legislators did not address the latter part of the question, they did talk about private schools.

   Koelker lives in Dyersville, where students generally either attend Beckman Catholic High School or travel to Epworth to attend Western Dubuque.

   “That bill did not hurt either one of the schools,” Koelker said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve met with all superintendents in my district, and all the schools in my district, and things seem to be going OK.

   “I sent my kids to Beckman catholic because I wanted faith in their daily lives. That was my personal choice. And so I would hope that every other parent has a personal choice on where their student goes.”

   Zumbach began his response by saying, “This is where the conversation gets a little uncomfortable.”

   He stated that if public schools are concerned about losing students to private schools, they should work on improving.

   “Be the best school. Be that school of choice,” he offered. “Do whatever you need to do to keep kids in your school. Competition is what makes us all better.”

   Zumbach also said he doesn’t believe there will be an exodus of students from public schools because of the ESA bill.

   But it gives a choice to students for whom the public school is not working out, he said, “without a financial burden to it.”

   He added that the bill “doesn’t cost the taxpayer any more money. We’re going to pay that $7,000 no matter what building that child goes to. So we feel that it’s important for you to step up, be that best school, be that school of choice, and let those dollars go where parents feel they’re getting the best opportunity.”

   McClintock, addressing the accountability question, said: “There is zero oversight in the bill. So don’t think you’re going to start seeing reports coming out from the Department of Education (about the performance of private schools), that’s not going to happen; they’re private.

   “I can only speculate that we’re not going to change that bill. It passed, it’s done, and there are probably going to be no changes to it in the foreseeable future.”

   Golding said that private schools are, in fact, accountable.

   “ESAs can only go to private schools that are accredited,”  Golding said. “I was involved in Isaac Newton Christian Academy, and we went through accreditation.

   “So there is accountability, it’s just not through the state, it’s through the private schools’ accrediting program.”

   One administrator, Anamosa Superintendent Darren Hanna, asked about funding changes to Area Education Agencies, which he said seem likely to result in fewer services available to school districts.

   “There is so much fear-mongering about that,” Koelker responded. “It needed to be changed, in my opinion. We were playing extremely high (amounts) in administrative (costs), and not a lot of money in the classrooms.”

   Zumbach weighed in on the topic as well, saying that the state now has better oversight on a $550 million project.

   “There’s going to be a short period of time here where we have to look at the AEAs differently,” Zumbach said. “That’s why we go back every year to the legislature, to continually tweak things that aren’t quite right. I perceive this will be an ongoing process of fixing those little things, year by year, as they come up.”

   Teacher shortages were also discussed, in terms of how to address them. Golding and Zumbach offered their views.

   “We don’t do a good job selling the profession to college kids. We need to be talking about the positive things of teaching. We need to sell that as a career,” she said.

   Zumbach offered a separate idea.

   “I think we’re going to have to look at schools the way a lot of other businesses have to look at staffing, and maybe come up with a whole different way to look at how to teach our kids, under good, professional supervision,” he said.

   He offered examples of a retired auto mechanic teaching an industrial arts class, or a retired banker teaching a math class.

   “We have to find better ways to get folks (from) outside of our normal teaching system that we’ve used in the past, and give them an opportunity to fill that void that’s getting harder and harder to fill,” Zumbach added.

   “Challenge yourself: ‘Can I look at this differently?’ ”

   As part of a wrap-up of the event, the legislators were asked by Monticello Superintendent Brian Jaeger about the best ways to contact them to discuss education issues.

   Both Golding and Koelker said that in emails or text, senders should reference the school district or city they are from, because those within the voting districts they represent get priority.

   “People in our district go right to the top (of the list),” Golding said.