On the ballot

MARENGO — The state of education in Iowa has driven a previously unpolitical resident into a political campaign.

Ed Chabal is a Democrat running for Iowa Senate District 46, which includes Iowa County. His Republican opponent in the Nov. 5 General Election is first-term incumbent Dawn Driscoll, of Williamsburg.

“I’ve never really been a political person,” said Chabal, but seeing what has happened to the public school system in the last couple of years has prompted him to run for office.

A resident of Washington, Iowa, Chabal grew up on a farm between Washington and Kalona. “And I have just retired from public school finance.”

Chabal spent 27 years in the Mount Pleasant Community School District, “so I certainly have a background in the education system, especially on the business end.”

The Mid-Prairie graduate attended the University of Iowa for a couple of years before transferring to Iowa State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture economics in 1982.

Chabal later took evening classes and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Iowa Wesleyan College.

After nearly three decades in the education system, Chabal was encouraged by people, including his wife, to run for office, bringing his expertise in education to the capital “in order to make the decisions that I think need to be made for public schools.”

The level of funding that public schools are receiving has to increase, said Chabal. The current year’s supplemental state aid is 2.5%, and it needs to be closer to 4%, he said.

“And that’s only if your enrollment stays steady,” said Chabal. The funding is based on enrollment, so increases are less than they appear if enrollment has declined.

The increase in revenue for Mt. Pleasant provided only $116,000 to cover pay increases in teachers’ salaries and benefits, the purchase of new curriculum and other school needs.

“That’s just not enough for a school district,” said Chabal. Especially not for smaller districts.

“It will hit the smaller schools as their enrollment continues to decline,” Chabal said.

Chabal also objects to the Education Savings Account created by the Iowa Legislature, commonly known as the voucher program, which allows private schools to receive tax dollars.

“I have a real issue about … using public money for private schools,” Chabal said.

The legislation was touted as a way to allow parents a choice in where to send their children to school. According to Chabal, about 2/3 of the students taking advantage of the program were already in private schools, so the program isn’t moving more students to private schools, he said.

Public schools have to be audited and held accountable for every dollar they spend, said Chabal, but private schools who receive money through the voucher program aren’t required to have audits or to explain what the money is used for, Chabal said.

“And then, of course, the [Area Education Agency] bill this last year is really what pushed me over the line to run for the state office here,” Chabal said. “I know how valuable our AEAS are [and] how many services they provide for our districts.”

AEAs are Important for special needs students, for teacher development and for services, such as printing, said Chabal.

“Our teachers can send things down to them to be laminated,” said Chabal. They can have hundreds of copies of something printed cheaper than taking it to a local business in town.

People don’t think about those things, said Chabal, but he sees it every day.

“I’m not saying that the AEAs are a perfect system as they were in previous years,” said Chabal. But legislators need to take a step back and see what changes need to be made.

“I think we rushed this way too much,” Chabal said. “It really put the AEAs in a bind.

“I think it really kind of caught everyone off guard when the governor announced the AEA reorganization,” Chabal said. “I think all of this is coming from the top, and it’s just not listening to the people of Iowa.”

Other issues that concern Chabal are equal rights and the environment.

“I feel very strongly that health care decisions should be made between a person and health care provider,” said Chabal, with no interference from Des Moines.

Chabal also thinks the State should correct environmental factors that give Iowa the second highest cancer rate in the county.

“Iowa deserves clean air and clean water. Our state parks are very important to Iowans. We need to make sure they are taken care of,” Chabal said.

“I’m not sure that Iowans are being heard. I want to work together because I know that both sides need to come together on the issues,” said Chabal.

“We need to work together and have that cooperation that makes the changes that are best for Iowans.”

(“On the Ballot” is a Hometown Current series profiling candidates in Benton, Iowa and Poweshiek Counties. Articles will run as candidates are interviewed. Candidates who do not respond to requests for interviews will not be included in the series.)