As the Iowa Legislature continues a focus on education and after coming to an agreement as it relates to school funding, Pella Schools Superintendent Greg Ebeling is expressing soe frustration with the decisions being made in the Statehouse.
Ebeling says a 2.5% state supplemental increase in general funds for public schools — which is the agreement between the Iowa House and Senate, is not enough to match the growing needs of the Pella School District and public schools across Iowa. Ebeling says that number will allow the district to stay afloat, but with growing enrollment on the horizon, the impact of rising inflation, and a healthy state budget surplus, he was disappointed to see a continuation of similar funding provided over the past several years.
“Two-point-five is going to be a squeeze for us, just because of the additional programs we are needing,” Ebeling says. “Some of the things we see as challenges for us do take additional funding, and 2.5% helps us maintain the status quo and doesn’t really allow us to improve programs. So we were really hoping for more, given the status of the state budget, since it’s so healthy right now and in really good shape.”
“Those kinds of numbers were usually when the state budget was in bad shape — we would get in that two percent range, and so now when the budget was good, we were hoping for more and that’s still just not happening, so it is disappointing as a superintendent because we are trying to make ends meet and we are seeing things that are happening in school where we need additional funding, and that’s just the reality of where most districts are.”
Ebeling says they have had to go to early retirement policies three times in the past six years to keep their budget above water, and he was hopeful a higher growth number could be provided to help the district thrive and advance programming. He says the district has done all they can to run a tight financial ship, but being too frugal also runs the risk of losing teachers if they don’t keep up salary wise with others in the state or in neighboring districts.
Additionally, Ebeling is also frustrated with the rhetoric of legislators that accused teachers of having “sinister agendas,” and feels like at a time when public education is strained coming out of the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, that there is not broad support at the Iowa Legislature for their needs, and instead, legislation working to punish educators or increase the burden of their workload.
“I think educators have felt shot at and hit at times, and overall we are blessed for what we have in Pella and thankful for that,” he says. “We don’t have a lot of local push that way, but from the statewide perspective, I know my colleagues at different places really feel defeated at times, just with the way public education tends to receive some soundbites that don’t tend to be positive as they should be.”
Hear more about the latest in the Pella Community School District on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.