Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Ann Hart

To the Editor:

November 3 Iowans will be asked to vote on an amendment to the Iowa constitution that would require a two-thirds majority of both Iowa House and Senate to pass any bill that raises individual or corporate taxes. As a teacher and principal for 36 years, I believe the amendment would cause further harm to an already stressed education system.

Iowa was once a proud education state. In fact, we chose a schoolhouse to represent us on the quarter. Iowans knew that for our state to grow, to be a place for families to settle and work, we needed strong public schools.

However, as has been widely reported, our school’s funding has not kept up with inflation. Public schools have been starved for more than ten years. Surprise, performance drops when it is no longer valued. Iowa is now ranked in the bottom half of our fifty states for school performance, a dramatic slide from first not so very long ago.

Amendment 1 creates minority rule allowing 17 out of 50 state senators or 34 out of 100 representatives to block revenue increases during a budget crisis. This threatens school funding by making it harder to solve future state deficits, which could lead to severe cuts in education or a heavier reliance on regressive sales and property taxes.

The school voucher bill has caused great harm to public schools and public-school funding. Amendment 1 will further that decline. Iowans need strong public schools. Please remember that when you vote November 3.

Ann Hart
Waukon