Rep. Chris Hagenow: Regents’ Decision to Close UNI’s Price Lab ‘Troubling’

By Rep. Chris Hagenow
Malcolm Price Laboratory School in Cedar Falls is a public K-12 school at the University of Northern Iowa, as part of UNI’s Department of Education.  The school serves as the platform for the research and development of new teaching strategies, as well as providing classroom student teaching experience for future teachers.

Do you agree with the Board of Regents' decision to close UNI's Price Lab? Why or why not? Tell us in comments.

Recently, UNI President Ben Allen announced that as part of his efforts to achieve cost savings within UNI’s budget, a plan to close the Malcom Price Laboratory School in Cedar Falls on July 1 of this year.

On Feb. 27, the Iowa Board of Regents voted 8-0 to follow President Allen's recommendation to close Malcolm Price Laboratory School.  As a graduate of Price Lab School and UNI, this is troubling news.  The lab school has long been a key part of UNI’s education training program.

UNI is in a more difficult budget position than Iowa or Iowa State, due to a higher number of in-state and undergraduate students, which do not bring in the same amount of revenue to the school as graduate or out-of-state students.  The Legislature should be mindful of this disparity when considering funding to the Board of Regents.

I commend President Allen for being proactive with his budget along with his willingness to make difficult decisions, even if I do not agree with his decision to close the Lab School.

While I have a great deal of confidence in both President Allen and the Board of Regents, I do not believe that a compelling case has been made for the Price Lab closure.  I am skeptical of the true cost savings, and have still not seen any concrete plan to provide adequate classroom training opportunities for UNI education students going forward.

At the meeting on Feb. 27, Regent Bob Downer made a motion to seek the opinion of the attorney general with regard to the Regents’ statutory authority to close the school.  According to news reports, his request was made not only based on the open question of legality, but also based on concerns about the speed with which this decision was rushed through the process.

In this era of openness and transparency of Government, I agree with Regent Downer's objections.  I have submitted to the Attorney General Tom Miller a request for his office to render a formal legal opinion on the legality of this action by the Board of Regents.

UNI’s primary mission has always been to train teachers, and we should be very cautious about cutting programs which serve that core purpose.

Balanced Budget Amendment
Last Wednesday night, the House Appropriations committee passed HJR 2006, which proposes a balanced budget amendment to the Iowa Constitution. This is a necessary step to ensure that the Legislature acts responsibly when it comes to setting the state’s budget.

Current Iowa law states that the lLegislature shall not spend more than 99 percent of ongoing revenue.  This law is inadequate because as a lawmaking body, the legislature can always just “notwithstand” the law and surpass the 99 percent  limitation.  This bit of legislative lingo simply means that the legislature gets to ignore any other piece of law to the contrary.

In past years, the Legislature has frequently exceeded this limitation, with spending far outpacing revenue growth, ultimately putting an undue burden on Iowa taxpayers.  Last’s year’s budget was the first time in many years that the final budget was actually below the 99 percent limitation, coming in at 97 percent of ongoing revenue.

We need this constitutional protection to protect taxpayers in future years from a government that too often has an insatiable appetite for more spending. I’ll keep you posted about this important resolution as it moves to the full House for consideration.

Jack Day
One of the best parts of my role as state representative is the opportunity to interact with so many different people from our community and around Iowa. This week, I heard from Jack Day, a 68-year-old cross-country bicyclist who last year cycled 4,000 miles solo from the Golden Gate Bridge to Times Square. You can view his website along with pictures from his last trip and his proposed trip for this year at his website: www.jacksvelosafari.shutterfly.com.

Jack wrote to me about his concerns for the health and wellness of Americans and how his trip and the people he has met have inspired him to take action against the health problems we are facing in our country. He wrote, “In the vein of ‘making a difference’ I aim to focus on my ‘Good Health through Adventure and Exercise’ message.”

After hearing about his story and his future goals I suggested that Jack take a look at Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative. This is a program focused on the health and wellness of Iowans. It is a privately led initiative that brings together all Iowans to focus on the health of our state. In 2010 Iowa was the 19th healthiest state in the nation. By 2016, Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative is hoping to make Iowa No. 1.

Contact Me
As always, I look forward to hearing your comments and ideas.  Please feel free to contact me anytime: 

Rep. Chris Hagenow
State Capitol
East 9th and Grand Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50319
(515) 281-3221
www.chrishagenow.com
chris.hagenow@legis.state.ia.us