Gov. Vilsack challenges Iowa educators to consider mergers or sharing agreements

Governor Tom Vilsack this week challenged Iowa superintendents and principals to put aside their own self-interest and start local discussions about school district sharing agreements or mergers. “Is it necessary and appropriate for every district to have their own separate unit of administration?” Vilsack said. “That question needs to be asked. Some communities are asking that.” Vilsack told the school officials that in a time of scarce resources, it’s appropriate to look at the function and the administration of eduation. During a speech to the School Administrators of Iowa annual convention this week in Des Moines, Vilsack told the school officials he had led a down-sizing of state government, reducing the number of state workers by eight percent and eliminating three state agencies. “We have a long way to go to get to where we ought to be, but we have started that process,” Vilsack says. “This is another one of those on-going processes that you all need to be engaged in and you need to support a discussion at the community level about this. As difficult as it might be for the people in this room to have that conversation, it has to take place.”