Iowa House District 64 Representative Jason Gearhart holds legislative forum in Harpers Ferry
Legislative forum in Harpers Ferry ... Iowa House District 64 Representative Jason Gearhart held a legislative forum at Harpers Ferry City Hall Friday morning, March 14. More than three dozen area residents were in attendance at the event discussing a variety of topics that included education matters such as funding and the private school voucher program, environmental and conservation matters such as wetland erosion control and the Forestry Reserve program, and concerns with the State level of government such as proposed pay increases for State officials and State-level government efficiency measures, along with a variety of recent and ongoing legislative decisions.
Jason Gearhart of District 64 of the Iowa House of Representatives was the lone legislator at a forum event held at City Hall in Harpers Ferry Friday morning, March 14. A variety of matters were discussed by Rep. Gearhart and the more than three dozen individuals in attendance, including education, conservation and environmental items, concerns with the State level of government, and several pieces of recent or ongoing legislation that those in attendance either wanted to voice their own opinion on or see where Rep. Gearhart stood on the matter.
Throughout the forum of just over an hour in length, Gearhart reminded those in attendance to reach out to him with further concerns of any kind. He did urge those in attendance, or anyone in District 64 who wants to reach out to him, to indicate in their correspondence either their hometown, zip code or some reference to District 64 so that he can prioritize those contact efforts within the vast number of emails and phone messages that he receives.
“If you call and leave a voicemail or send me an email, I would appreciate it if you would at least state what town you’re from,” Gearhart explained. “Two weeks ago, I had 1700 emails, so it’s easier for me to prioritize people from my district first.”
Education accounted for much of the discussion, as a number of retired and current educators were in attendance. School funding was the first matter approached, with Gearhart expressing his frustration over the difference between the Senate and Governor’s office being “stuck at two-percent” in regard to an increase in school funding for next year, while the House of Representatives has proposed a 2.25% increase in addition to some one-time funding measures that would add to that overall funding effort. “The understanding that I have from our House leadership is that, to try and make it more palatable for the Senate and the Governor, we need to try and do a one-time thing at least to help teachers this year,” Gearhart explained. “We’re at, like, 3.93% - the total package is, and the Senate is stuck at two (percent) and the Governor is stuck at two (percent), so I don’t know what we’ll be able to negotiate there.”
Admitting he’s still “learning the ropes” when it comes to school funding and other matters within the legislature, Gearhart said he will continue to learn as much as he can and will always advocate for schools similar to where he received his own education. “I’ll do what I can for our schools up here - well, all rural schools,” he furthered. “And me being new, it’s like, why do we treat urban and rural the same? Why can’t it be different funding based on population - but then you’re not fair to everybody, so I don’t know what the answer is, but I hope we can figure it out.”
Discussion turned to the voucher program for private schools in Iowa and what was termed “no safeguards and no oversight”. Gearhart was questioned on his stance in regard to vouchers, especially following the previous discussion in regard to the struggles to determine funding levels for public schools.
“Before I ran for this office, I was for the vouchers, and then I got on the school board, and I changed my mind because I see what the public schools are dealing with for money,” Gearhart said. “I’m not a fan of the voucher system. However, it is the law. There aren’t enough people in Des Moines who want to change it, so I think it’s going to continue on.”
Allamakee Community School District Superintendent Jay Mathis was in attendance at the meeting. He thanked Rep. Gearhart for his efforts working to support more funding for public schools and then shared his thoughts on the difference in accountability measures between public and private schools, comments which received a round of applause from those in attendance.
“The lack of accountability is the piece that, hopefully, the State government will continue to look at,” Mathis said. “If I had a wish, it would be that the State government would have a little more faith or trust in public education. I’ve been in public education for 38 years, and my daughter is a fourth generation teacher, and I really believe in the principles of public education - that we’re here to serve everybody. I have no problem with the accountability placed on us -we should have that, but I think that all the schools getting State money should have the same level of accountability.”
Further education discussion included dollar amounts and overall funding percentages, in addition to questions and comments about homeschooled students and private schools raising their tuition after receiving the voucher funding. An exchange regarding chaplains in schools also took place as part of Friday’s meeting, as well as mention of action taken in regard to Area Education Agencies and the Department of Education at the Federal level.
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