Emails Show UNI Discussed Price Lab Closure With Iowa Senate Democrats Before Announcement

UNI President Ben Allen discussed replacing Price Lab as the state's research and development school with Iowa Senate Democrats, according to records obtained by Patch.

University of Northern Iowa administrators were discussing plans to close Malcolm Price Laboratory School with Senate Democrats before the official announcement was made on Feb. 22, according to records obtained by Patch in response to a records request. "Given that the Senate Democrats wanted a paper on the new vision for an R&D school to take the place of the Lab School as a R&D school, I quickly came up with the material in the attachment," UNI President Ben Allen wrote in an email dated Feb. 19. The "R&D school" refers to Price Lab's role as the research and development school for Iowa. The existence of a research and development school is enshrined in Iowa law. Because it is written into law, some have debated who has the authority …

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Photos: Protest Draws Price Lab Families, UNI Faculty, Lawmakers

About 100 people marched across the University of Northern Iowa campus today in protest of recent budget cuts at UNI, including the proposed closure of Price Lab.

A light rain drizzled over a crowd of about 100 community members who gathered in front of the Maucker Union before marching across the University of Northern Iowa campus today in protest against funding and program cuts at UNI. One of the proposed program closures is Malcolm Price Laboratory School, and many of the marchers were Price Lab parents, teachers and students. The march was quiet, without the chanting and singing that marked an earlier protest held days after the school's planned closing was announced. Two Cedar Falls Democrats, Rep. Bob Kressig and Sen. Jeff Danielson, addressed the crowd. "The University of Northern Iowa is about education. Our state is about education," Danielson said. He encouraged the protestors to …

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Three Cedar Falls Lawmakers Will Face Challenges for State Legislature Seats

Three Cedar Falls Lawmakers Will Face Challenges for State Legislature Seats

A Decade of Defunding Higher Education: History Behind University of Northern Iowa's Woes

DISPATCH: Iowa's funding for higher education has been shrinking for the past 12 years, a trend mirrored across the country.

The University of Northern Iowa's current budget woes are part of a larger trend in the defunding of higher education. A report released March 8 shows, after accounting for inflation, that state funding for Iowa's public universities decreased nearly 40 percent between 2000 and 2011. Even before adjusting for inflation, the report says, all three of Iowa’s public universities received fewer dollars from the state's general fund in fiscal year 2012 than they had in any year since 1996. The report was compiled by the Iowa Fiscal Partnership, a joint initiative of The Iowa Policy Project and The Child and Family Policy Center. A full copy of the report is attached to this article as a PDF. Students bearing burden of decreased funding The …

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Multi-Million Dollar Funding Increase Possible for UNI, UI and ISU

The Iowa Senate Appropriations Committee approved $11.2 million for UNI on the heels of massive program cutbacks spurred by the school's budget woes.

The Iowa Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a $34-million funding increase for the three state universities for the next fiscal year. Of that, $8.2 million is slated for the University of Northern Iowa, $11.8 million for the University of Iowa and $9.2 million for Iowa State University. The increase is part of the overall education appropriations bill, which will now be open for a floor vote by the senate. If approved, it will go to the Iowa House of Representatives. The proposed funding increase comes on the heels of massive and controversial budget cuts at UNI, including the planned closure of 58 academic programs, Malcolm Price Laboratory School and the University Museum building. UNI leaders say the school is $5 million in …

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Local Legislators Condemn Regents Vote to Close Price Lab

Five local state legislators have issued a joint statement condemning the Board of Regents vote to close Price Lab effective June. 30.

Five local lawmakers have issued a joint statement condemning the Board of Regents vote to close Malcolm Price Laboratory School effective June. 30. Rep. Bob Kressig (D-Cedar Falls), Rep. Deborah Berry (D-Waterloo), Rep. Anesa Kajtazovic (D-Waterloo), Sen. Jeff Danielson (D-Cedar Falls), and Sen. Bill Dotzler (D-Waterloo) have issued the statement in opposition to University of Northern Iowa president Ben Allen's recommendation to close the school. “We’re deeply disappointed in the Board of Regents’ decision today to close the Price Lab School.  Their decision was made without any input from parents, students, teachers, or others in our community.  This lack of transparency in an era of open government is alarming," the statement reads. …

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Price Lab's Fate May Be Out of Their Hands, Legislators Say

At a community meeting attended by more than 400 community members and five local lawmakers, it was unclear what role the Iowa Legislature can or will play in the decision to close Price Lab.

Local lawmakers said they weren't sure the Iowa Legislature will be able to intervene, as many community members hope, to keep Malcolm Price Laboratory School open. University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen has announced his intention to close the Price Lab, a teaching lab for UNI teaching students as well as school for hundreds of children in the area, and the Iowa Board of Regents is expected to vote on whether or not to approve the recommendation at a meeting Monday afternoon. The widely disseminated understanding in the media, including on Patch, has been that since Price Lab has been defined by the Iowa Legislature as the Research and Development School for Iowa, it would take an act of the Legislature to close the school. In …

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Price Lab Updates: March and Community Meeting Planned

The actions come as Price Laboratory School community members fight to save their school.

Two events centered around the proposed closure of Malcolm Price Laboratory School are planned in the coming days. Friday, community members are planning a march from Price Lab to the Schindler Education Center. Marchers will meet at the school at 3 p.m. and start walking at 3:30 p.m. At 4 p.m. Sunday, Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, will host a community meeting to discuss the proposed budget cuts and their impact on the Cedar Valley. The public is invited to the meeting, which will be at the Cedar Falls Community Center, 528 Main St.

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Reisetter Will Challenge Danielson For Iowa Senate Seat

Matt Reisetter, 36, a Republican, will challenge Democrat incumbent Jeff Danielson for the a seat in the Iowa State Senate.

PATCH POLL: Opinions Split on Iowa Fuel Tax Hike, What Do You Think?

Iowa lawmakers plan to propose an 8- to 10-cents-per-gallon fuel tax increase.

We spend a lot of money on gas already, and the price is expected to go up. That's why on the surface a suggested Iowa fuel tax hike leaves a sour taste for many motorists, even if the tax is only 8 to 10 cents per gallon and will go to maintain Iowa's roads. Iowans are split on what to do. What do you think? Vote in the Patch Poll below and let us know in comments. In Cedar Falls, lawmakers Sen. Jeff Danielson, a Democrat, says he is keeping an open mind to a gas tax increase because something is needed to take care of the roads, while his colleague Rep. Walt Rogers, a Republican, said increasing a gas tax now would be detrimental to the economy, but added that we need to find a way to improve our roads. Economists, such as Iowa State …

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Alison Gowans

9:47 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012

We don't have toll roads, which are how a lot of other states fund their road projects. They're both forms of "user fees." I don't think toll roads are under consideration in Iowa, but if people had to choose, I wonder what they would pick?   more ›