More than 80 Speak Out for Price Lab at State Capitol

Residents and students flooded the Iowa State House in Des Moines on Monday with the goal of avoiding the closing of .

Approximately 86 people met with State Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls, and State Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, said Dave Deibler, a Cedar Falls business owner who's child attends Price Lab. The group also spent the day trying to get into the House and Senate to “speak to people who needed more convincing.”

Deibler, along with many others, have been working to get the word out.

For comprehensive coverage of the Price Lab closure and other budget cuts, including the UNI students' "study-in" on campus this week, visit the Cedar Falls Patch topic page, and get notified of the latest on Price Lab and other UNI news by signing up to the Cedar Falls Patch newsletter. 

“We want to get their fiscal issues in order, and we’re really asking the College of Education, which is the largest college at UNI, and Iowa’s Research and Developing School, which does a lot of the heavy lifting for that college,” said Deibler. “Why are we asking our biggest brand to pay the heaviest price?”

At a this month, the Iowa Board of Regents approved the closure of Price Lab effective in June at the . They say the school that trains teachers and educates 350-plus K-12 students has become to costly to run in the wake of steep state budget cuts.

Advocates to keep Price Lab open have started a Facebook group called "Keep Price Lab Open” the website, www.SupportPriceLab.com.

“We’re not talking about something that’s old fashioned and clunky,” said Deibler. “We’re talking about something that serves 1,900 students and does 20,000 hours of mentoring.”