OSKALOOSA — Education, guns and property taxes were the main topics of discussion at Eggs & Issues Saturday morning.

Republican state Reps. Guy Vander Linden and Richard Arnold, and Democratic state Sen. Tom Rielly and Republican state Sen. Paul McKinley were on hand to take questions from a packed house at Smokey Row in downtown Oskaloosa.

Education was an issue that dominated discussion at the legislative forum. The Iowa Senate proposed 4 percent allowable growth while the Iowa House and Gov. Terry Branstad proposed a 2 percent allowable growth rate.

Oskaloosa teacher Amanda Reynolds asked the Republican state representatives why they were going with 2 percent instead of 4 percent allowable growth.

“My problem with the Senate bill is that it is a proposal,” Vander Linden said. The Senate does not say where they will get the money to fund it, he added.

“No one has anything against allowable growth, but there’s no money,” Vander Linden said.

Vander Linden said federal government aid doubles the amount the state has in the budget, but with the current state of federal finances, that money could be gone in 2013 or 2014.

The Senate could promise 4 percent allowable growth, but “it’s an empty promise,” Vander Linden said.

Whether it’s 2 percent or 4 percent allowable growth, “we have the money now,” Rielly said.

Rielly said lawmakers need to talk to school superintendents, school boards, teachers and parents to learn about local educational needs.

“We’re not Congress — we’re good stewards of money,” Rielly said.

McKinley said it’s not just about how much lawmakers spend for education, it’s also what do we get in return.

McKinley said there has been an initiative to reduce class sizes since Gov. Tom Vilsack’s administration in the 1990s. The state has spent about a half of a billion dollars on the program. However, only now has there been a study of that program’s effectiveness. The study found that student reading achievement has dropped while costs went up. Throwing money at issues does not work, he said.

Oskaloosa Superintendent Russ Reiter said he agrees that more money doesn’t always equate to better outcomes. However, he said if a school district’s enrollment decreases, the district receives less money no matter if allowable growth is 2 percent or 4 percent. Reiter said school administrators have some budget problems due to state mandates. He also said a reduction of funding to Area Education Agencies is an indirect cut to local school districts.

McKinley agreed that the state has too many mandates on local school districts. He said he doesn’t like to spend money on programs when there’s nothing to show for it.

Reiter said academically, student performance remains the same. He said surrounding states began reforming their education systems in the 1990s, when Iowa was a top performer, but Iowa only began education reforms about four years ago.

McKinley said employers are having a hard time finding workers with the right skills. He argues that the Iowa Core Curriculum, a program passed on a party-line vote that no one read before passage, is part of the problem.

Rielly said the Iowa Core Curriculum was passed to get more rigor into education. He said that as times change, a high school or even an undergraduate degree may not be enough. Students may have to prepare for graduate studies.

For more about Eggs & Issues, see Monday’s edition of the Oskaloosa Herald.