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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad's latest budget proposal does not include any money for an upcoming state-mandated summer reading program for struggling third-graders, a move educators say could adversely affect those students and hold them back a year.
The Intensive Summer Literacy Program will not have state dollars attached to it under Branstad's budget recommendations for the fiscal year that begins in July. The Iowa Department of Education had requested about $9 million for school districts to fund the program, which must go into effect in 2017.
Ben Hammes, a spokesman for Branstad, said the governor's budget is "very tight" this year. He said Branstad intends to secure the $9 million funding during the legislative session that begins in 2017, with a special request to lawmakers that it be provided by March of that year.
Staci Hupp, a spokeswoman for the education department, said in an email the agency understands Branstad's explanation. She added, "We'll do everything we can to support (school districts) with existing resources." She noted a separate, continuing education appropriation of $8 million for early literacy initiatives, though advocacy groups point out that money is directed to year-round programming that doesn't include the summer reading program.
The summer reading program was included in a law passed in 2012 intended to make Iowa students proficient readers by the end of the third grade. Many provisions of the law are in effect, including universal screening of students in kindergarten through third grade for signs of reading deficiencies. Effective in May 2017, the law will require every Iowa school district — roughly 335 — to provide an evidence-based summer literacy program for third-graders who exhibit a substantial deficiency in reading. A third-grader under that designation who fails to attend the summer program could be held back a year.
The law includes a one-time waiver for school districts, so it's possible some schools will be able to delay immediate implementation. A struggling student will also be able to advance to the fourth grade if he or she has limited English proficiency or they demonstrate another exemption written into the law.
Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association, said there are serious concerns with the lack of funding. Her group wants the program delayed despite the governor's pledge.
"There are so many funding issues that then to add something like this on top of it, schools ... they'd be crazy not to be worried about being on the hook for this," she said.
The education department released data last year that show nearly one in four Iowa third-graders is not proficient in reading. In a data set of roughly 32,000 students, more than 7,500 were substantially deficient in reading. More than 2,800 were considered at risk.
"That's a huge number of kids," said Heidi Meyer, a teacher who specializes in early literacy intervention at MFL MarMac Elementary School in Monona. "For some of these especially larger districts, but also small rural districts like mine, to find the number of staff to cover that many hours will be a challenge."
Meyer noted that finalized standards for the program released late last year require that enrolled third-graders have an 85 percent attendance rate and 70 hours of instruction during the summer. That came after some educators expressed concern that a higher attendance rate and hours of instruction would be too difficult to achieve.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames and chairman of the Senate Education Committee, called the lack of funding "seriously negligent." He said he had already planned to hold hearings this session to review the law and its guidelines for school districts.
Sen. Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City and chairman of the House Education Committee, said he plans to meet with education officials in the next few days to discuss available options, including a temporary delay for implementing the program. He emphasized he supported the concept as long as it's properly funded.
"We don't want to come up to this timeline and see that we have a great percentage of kids that don't have access and would have to be retained according to the law," he said.
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