Rethinking Iowa City....massive school budget cuts (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids: 2013, how much)

[Betsy84]

If you are moving to the Iowa City area and have school aged kids, or will have them, I'd advocate doing some comparison shopping to see if the Iowa City Community School District offers more comparably to other school districts you might look at.

Today massive budget cuts were announced, and many activities have been cut and classes like foreign languages will be decreased.

I've always thought one of the advantages of a larger district is they offer so much more variety than the bare basics that a more rural school district would offer.

Now I'd really encourage everyone to comparison shop.

If you are looking to move to the Iowa City area the ICCSD encompasses most of Coralville, part of North Liberty, Hills and Iowa City.

[smpliving]

Latest on the proposed school budget cuts:

Parents Push Back After Seeing Iowa City Budget Cuts | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather | Local News

[Betsy84]

Thanks for sharing that.

For me this isn't just about the budget cuts, but partly the way in which they were handled by our school board and administration.

We've currently got kids in the district. It is too late for us to move. The incompetence of the superintendent and the refusal of the Board to take any meaningful action is just astounding. It certainly doesn't bode well for the future.

[lurtsman]

It's amazing, because the property taxes in Iowa City are 3 times higher than some other states, and adjusting for property values, 4 times higher. (Property in IC is over-priced compared to most midwestern places, example: Des Moines)

Somehow IC manage to squander the enormous tax base it collects. Agree with Betsy84 that families should be doing some comparison shopping so they don't find themselves owning a property where the local government is in huge amounts of debt despite very high taxes.

[jthomas.7489]

Originally Posted by lurtsman

It's amazing, because the property taxes in Iowa City are 3 times higher than some other states, and adjusting for property values, 4 times higher. (Property in IC is over-priced compared to most midwestern places, example: Des Moines)

Somehow IC manage to squander the enormous tax base it collects. Agree with Betsy84 that families should be doing some comparison shopping so they don't find themselves owning a property where the local government is in huge amounts of debt despite very high taxes.

Maybe its not Iowa City squandering all of the money, but Coralville (same school district). Coralville's debt for its size is ridiculous, at least compared to other towns in Iowa. $14,479 per capita compared to Iowa City's $1,786. Database: Search total outstanding debt for Iowa cities, school districts and counties | DesMoinesRegister.com

[Xander_Crews]

Throwing Money at Schools | Eric A. Hanushek

The problem isn't money management, it is the men and women you are forced to accept as the managers of said money. You can not withdraw your financial support of them, regardless of how much you disagree with them.

As for the schooling issue, public schools suck. Even the good ones, they can get test results (on occasion) but they do very little to educate and equip children to be adults. They force children into a mold rather than helping kids explore their interests. They also graduate a good percentage of illiterate students. Not a service that I am interested in... and I can't stop paying for it. If I do, agents will use force to take away my house.

I encourage students to forget the cliches about "schooling" and put a focus on education. As the popular Mark Twain quote goes; "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." There are a myriad of other options for educating your children, and by objective results, they are far more effective. They children enjoy their education and they are not forced into any location for twelve years of their life, they have choices. This also prevents bullying.

I like "Umbrella schools". They offer extracurricular activities, sports, group classes... everything you need if you want your kid to have a mostly traditional school experience. They range in price and services offered, and they tend to be open to customization. There are too many options to list, really.

If you want to learn more about alternatives to public school and actual hard science on educating your child properly, go to School Sucks Project

I know it sucks that we have to pay for public schools no matter what, but think about it this way: If you had to pay a crappy mechanic that has bad results no matter what, wouldn't you consider buying a better mechanic when your car needs fixed?

If public schools were abolished/sold off, education would be more accessible and cheaper via market forces. (With better results to boot) There would be more options, and fierce competition between schools to offer the best schooling at the lowest price. Throwing money at the problem won't fix it... I mean hell, if you can't train a child to read and write in twelve years WITHOUT MONEY, you are incompetent.