Christina Bohannan Meets With Educators

KESWICK – Congressional Candidate Christina Bohannan visited Keokuk County on June 5 and spoke with local educators about the challenges rural schools face. Educators who spoke with the candidate include retired Sigourney teacher Julie Tremmel, Tri-County business and social studies teacher Megan Snakenberg, and Sigourney secondary principal Shannon Webb.

Bohannan, a University of Iowa Law Professor, explained that she sees herself as a teacher and wants to increase federal funding for public education. “Public education saved my life,” said Bohannan. “I mean, I am a hardcore supporter of public education, because I grew up in a family where my parents graduated high school, my dad was a construction worker, and we lived in a mobile home my whole life. We didn’t have much. At one point, my dad lost his health insurance, it’s a thing I talk about a lot. It’s a real problem. He lost health insurance, couldn’t afford prescription drugs, and we pretty much lost everything. For me, public education was the thing that just gave me that opportunity, gave me a better chance at life, and I really do feel like I owe my life to public school teachers and all the educators who helped me along the way. The many of them who really took an interest and helped me. I just have so much tremendous respect.”

Bohannan called public schools the backbone of rural communities. She stated that she had heard of problems with school vouchers and AEA reform in Iowa, then asked the educators what problems their schools were facing. Tremmel stated that a big problem is declining enrolment, which leads to staff reduction and, paradoxically, larger class sizes. She explained that, when she began, Sigourney limited Kindergarten class sizes to 15 children, but now features classes as large as 25. She stated that this leads to crowded, stressful, and noisy classrooms, which isn’t fair for teachers or students.

Webb stated that schools need more support for mental healthcare, and that so many students need mental health help, but there is next to nothing out there. She explained that Sigourney High School contracts services from River Hills two days a week, which she feels isn’t enough, and that there aren’t any mental health facilities in the area for students with serious mental health problems. Bohannan stated that currently the only places to send teenagers with mental health problems are the ER or jail. Webb agreed, calling this frustrating, and said that she had seen students sent home from ERs in the middle of a crisis.

Webb stated things were “in the air” about the AEAs. She stated that the AEA special education services do a lot for Sigourney and that it would be a disservice if anything happened to them. Tremmel stated that the AEAs help a lot, but asked rhetorically if they helped more now than when she started 30 years ago. Tremmel stated they did not and that the AEAs used to do observations, but now make teachers do them. Snakenberg stated that she would wait and see how things worked out for the AEAs and that things could go either way.

Bohannan asked about funding and Webb stated schools need more funding. Tremmel stated that she used to be a Title 1 teacher and that, back then, money was thrown at the program. She said it isn’t that way anymore. Snakenberg brought up Perkins V Funding, a 2018 federal bill that gives funding to schools, calling it a huge pain because of heavy restrictions on what schools can purchase that change on a whim. Webb agreed the restrictions were ridiculous and complained about the paperwork and “hoops to jump through” to justify every purchase. Snakenberg stated she had attempted to buy a projector, but been told no, and that Tri-County had tried to use the money for a new bus, but been told it could not be spent to purchase gas or to pay a driver.

Webb brought up concerns about a recent bill that increases teacher pay in Iowa, which she feels could hurt small districts. She stated she had heard that Tri-County hadn’t sent out contracts yet and was struggling to get all teachers up to the new $47,500 minimum for new teachers and $60,000 minimum for teachers with 12 or more years of experience. She stated that teachers in some neighboring districts had a jump in salary of $18,000 and that such a big increase could kill districts. Bohannan stated that the state can say they will give money in the long run, but that the bill was an unfunded mandate and that the state gave the same funding increase as previous years. Webb stated that Sigourney luckily already had teachers close to the minimums and will not be affected as heavily. She wondered out loud if this was part of a plan to get rid of small school districts.

Tremmel brought up high superintendent pay. Webb stated that, as an administrator, she doesn’t need a raise and doesn’t ask for one. Tremmel stated that Webb still gets yearly raises. Snakenberg stated that, as part of the AEA reform, a provision was put in place that limits superintendent pay to no more than 125% of top teacher pay, which she said wasn’t a bad idea. Webb stated that high ranking AEA employees make more than $300,000 and that she thinks it is wrong. Tremmel agreed with this.

Bohannan asked about truancy. Webb stated that chronic absenteeism is a big deal, but that she doesn’t know how to combat it, because it comes down to parenting. She stated she was worried about truancy becoming part of a school’s state report card. She said she did not want things that happen outside of school to count against schools. Webb stated that, unlike large schools, Sigourney does not have a truancy officer, and that she had been forced to go to students houses before, resulting in her being screamed at and cursed at. Snakenberg said that she has her students text their friends and ask them to come to school, which sometimes works.

Tremmel brought up filling out standards and benchmarks reports back when she was a teacher. She said that she’d heard that teachers in West Des Moines hire outside people to do their benchmarks and expressed frustration that she did more work than teachers at bigger schools, for less pay. Tremmel pointed out that this affects her pension and that she will be hurt for the rest of her life because she worked at a small school.

Snakenberg agreed that better pay attracts teachers. She stated it is hard to go into education and that, the year she graduated from UNI, there was only a single science teacher who graduated. Webb stated that the teacher shortage will become a huge issue in coming years. Webb brought up Pekin, which lost multiple positions recently, and stated she didn’t think they would be able to fill them all before next year.

Bohannan said that it bothered her that, in every other profession, things like pay, benefits, retirement and job conditions are treated as important, but that teachers are expected to not worry about those things and teach out of love. She stated it was unfair and unrealistic for teachers to not be concerned about putting food on the table. Webb sarcastically said that teachers get summers off and shouldn’t complain. Bohannan said she knew that was untrue because her sister is a teacher, and that teachers only get three or four weeks off in the summer.

“That really bothers me,” said Bohannan. “Why do the laws of supply and demand and job conditions and everything matter for everybody except the profession that literally our whole next generation depends on. Why is that? I find that very very frustrating…Why don’t we pay teachers what venture capitalists make and let’s see how that changes the world.”

Webb stated that part of the problem is that graduating teachers want to be near cities and that moving to rural Iowa is hard. She stated that she tells new hires Sigourney is close to Iowa City. Bohannan said she grew up in a small town and that small towns are great for raising kids, but that it is increasingly difficult to do so. Snakenberg stated the nice thing about small schools is that teachers know their students and their families, which keeps students from falling through the cracks. Webb said that Sigourney has a high graduation rate because they won’t let students fail or drop out.

Webb stated that there isn’t actually more opportunity at larger schools, noting all of the college credits Sigourney students are able to get during high school. Snakenberg brought up the opportunities for trade training like welding at local schools. Snakenberg stated she was glad there was a recent push for work-based learning, but that it was logistically nearly impossible at rural schools like Tri-County, because the only business in Thornburg is the post office. She stated she was worried work-based learning would be made a state requirement.

Bohannan asked if there were any federal changes the educators wanted to see. Snakenberg and Webb stated there needs to be less restrictions on how schools spend their money. Bohannan stated that federal programs often have a focus on a specific school in mind and that recent federal programs had focussed heavily on inner city schools. She stated that there needs to be better investment and a stronger vision for rural schools. She said she loves rural schools because of the individualized attention. Webb stated she wished people knew how easy it was to live in Sigourney and that the community was one big family. Bohannan said she was worried about a feedback loop, where small schools lose students, which hurts businesses, which keeps from moving to small towns, resulting in schools closing.