Iowa House of Representatives » Education

Republicans Slash Over $115 Million from Education Plans

deanfiihr — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:46:43 +0000

Republicans slashed over $115 million from an education plan already approved by the Senate today in the Iowa House. Legislators said the latest round of Republican budget cuts in education will slow efforts to grow Iowa’s skilled workforce.

“Iowa students already carry one of the highest debt loads in the country and the Republican education budget will put an even bigger burden on middle class families and students,” said Rep. Cindy Winckler of Davenport, the Ranking Member of the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

“We need to grow our skilled workforce by encouraging more Iowans to continue their education or training after high school. Unfortunately, the Republican plan approved today will make it more difficult for Iowans to continue their education and get a good-paying job,” added Winckler.

House Republicans scrapped a bill approved by the Iowa Senate and replaced it with their own version, which slashed funding by $115 million for state universities, community colleges, tuition assistance and the Iowa Department of Education. Under the Republican plan, community colleges would receive $25 million less and Iowa’s three public universities would receive $65 million less.

The bill, Senate File 2321, now returns to the Iowa Senate.

Republicans Scrap Education Gains, Slash Over $100 Million from Senate Plans

deanfiihr — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:05:00 +0000

House Republicans slashed over $100 million from an education plan already approved by the Iowa Senate today. Legislators said the latest round of Republican budget cuts in education will slow efforts to grow Iowa’s skilled workforce.

“The Republican bill is a step backwards in our efforts to build a highly-skilled workforce. The budget is a reflection of our priorities and affordable education at our community colleges and higher education institutions is clearly not a priority for House Republicans. As the people of UNI know all too well, chronic cuts in higher education have severe consequences and the Republican education plans will make things even worse,” said Rep. Tyler Olson, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“With Iowa students already carrying the 4^th highest debt load in the country, the Republican budget puts one more burden on the middle class while putting college out of reach for too many Iowans,” said Rep. Cindy Winckler of Davenport, the lead Democrat on the education budget committee.

Republicans Play Shell Game with Education Reform

deanfiihr — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:12:07 +0000

Just a day after approving the education reform bill, House Republicans outlined their shell game to pay for the reforms by taking $20 million from class size reduction funds that Iowa schools already receive.

“Raising class sizes in the early grades is a step in the wrong direction and will counter new efforts to improve literacy before 3rd grade,” said House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines. “It’s not just robbing Peter to pay Paul, it’s taking money from a priority that will result in higher class sizes.”

On a party line vote on Thursday, the House Education Committee approved a bill to take $20 million of the $30 million schools receive for class size reduction block grants. The bill, Senate File 2210, now goes to the House floor.

Education Reform Debate Tomorrow

deanfiihr — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:54:44 +0000

The Iowa House will be debating the education reform bill tomorrow, Tuesday March 13th late tomorrow morning.

Read the bill House File 2380.

Read the bill analysis here.

You can watch the debate live here.

Read the differences between the House, Senate and Governor’s proposals below:

	Governor	House	Senate
3^rd Grade Retention	Yes	Yes, starts in 2016-17	Increased support for early-grade literacy
Expand Charter School Law	Yes	Yes	No
Expands Iowa Core Subjects	Music, applied arts, foreign language, character Ed, entrepreneurship	Music, applied arts, foreign language, entrepreneurship	Music, applied arts, foreign language, character Ed, entrepreneurship
Online learning	Repeals current law, allows 100% online instruction with full 1% weighting	Study issue; prohibit exclusive online instruction with .3 weighting.	Online learning only up to 50% of coursework with no weighting.
Allows Certain Schools to Continue On-line Program	Yes	No	No
Teacher Evaluations – current law is every 3 years	Every year from administrators	Every year from administrators	Every year, but two years come from teacher peers
Alternative Teacher Licensure	Yes	No	No
Teacher layoffs based on performance, not seniority	Yes	Yes	No
Statewide clearinghouse for Iowa teachers	Yes	No, Dept. maintains website for jobs	No
New teacher probation period from 3 to 5 years	Yes	Yes	No
3.0 Minimum GPA for Teacher Prep Program	Yes	No	No, study
Student Teaching Requirement	15 Weeks	Current 12 weeks	14 Weeks
End of course exams before graduation	Yes	Yes, Starts 2013-14	No
Kindergarten Readiness	Yes	Yes	Yes
Require Juniors to take ACT	Yes	ACT or Career Readiness	Yes
Pre K -11 Value Added Assessment Method	Yes, starts 2013-14	Yes, starts 2013-114	No
Random students take international test every three years	Yes	No	No
Extended school day or year	Task Force	Task Force	Pilot program to add 10 days
Statewide Parent Advocacy Network	Yes	No	Yes
School Administration Manager (SAMs)	Yes	No	Yes
Innovation Acceleration Program	Yes	Yes	No
Competency Based Education Study	No	Yes	Yes
Competency Based Extended Waiver	No	Yes	No
Competency Based Unit Defined	Yes	No, would be defined by study	Yes
10% Cut to Prof. Development	Yes	Yes	No
“Home Rule”	No	Yes	No

Education Reform Public Hearing Scheduled

deanfiihr — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:20:22 +0000

The Iowa House has scheduled a public hearing on the Education Reform Bill HF 2380. We want to hear comments from parents, teachers and students about the proposed bill. After the Governor released a blueprint for education last fall, legislators began reviewing the details of the plan. While there are many areas of agreement with the Governor, many legislators on both sides of the aisle think the Governor’s plan to overhaul the schools system relies too heavily on increased testing and does little to help teachers perform in the classroom.

Monday, March 5, 2012

6:30 p.m.

Iowa House of Representatives Chamber

Persons wishing to speak may sign up at the Legislative Information Office (LIO), Room G16, located in the Iowa State Capitol, or call the LIO at 515-281-5129. Please do not leave a recorded message by telephone. If unable to attend, you may e-mail written testimony to the LIO: lioinfo@legis.state.ia.us . Please type Testimony in the subject line.

Republican Education Plans Fail Iowa Students

deanfiihr — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:11:19 +0000

House Democrats said new budget documents released today show House Republicans aren’t interested in growing Iowa’s skilled workforce or education reform efforts.

“The Republican education budget is a failure for Iowa students and the future of our economy,” said House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines. “Now more than ever, the strength of Iowa’s economy is dependent on a highly-skilled workforce that can compete with workers from around the globe. The Republican budget guarantees that fewer Iowans will get the skills they need to land a good-paying job.”

The budget documents produced by the non-partisan Legislative Services Bureau show Republicans cutting over $80 million from Governor Branstad’s proposal. In addition to zeroing out $17 million for education improvements requested by the Governor, Republicans also slashed $62 million in support for students at community colleges, state universities, and private colleges.

“After working together for months, I’m deeply disappointed that House Republicans won’t provide a single dollar for education reform efforts,” said State Representative Sharon Steckman of Mason City, Ranking Member of the House Education Committee. “While I’m committed to working together to improve education, this is a devastating blow to our efforts this year.”

“With Iowa students already carrying the 4th highest debt load in the country, the Republican budget puts one more burden on the middle class while putting college out of reach for too many Iowans,” said Rep. Cindy Winckler of Davenport, the lead Democrat on the education budget committee.

Legislators Visit North High School

deanfiihr — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:13:56 +0000

Iowa House legislators visited North High School on Tuesday, January 17th to discuss the recent turnaround of North High School’s academic achievement. Principal Matt Smith outlined many of the ways he and his administration changed the attitude of North High students and staff to be more positive, leading to increased success in the classroom. Principal Smith said that one of the major achievements was getting the students to believe they could succeed. Legislators will be considering an education reform package during the 2012 session.

Iowan’s Get Relief from Student Loan Debt

deanfiihr — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:35:48 +0000

With Iowa students graduating with the fourth highest debt in the county, President Obama announced a series of new initiatives yesterday to help Iowa students pay off their student loans. The new steps will make college more affordable and make it even easier for students to repay their federal student loans.

1. Capping Monthly Payments using “Pay as you Earn”

This would allow borrowers to cap their student loan payments at 10% of discretionary income. For example, a teacher who is earning $30,000 a year and has $25,000 in Federal student loans under the standard repayment plan will have a monthly a repayment of $287. The currently available IBR plan would reduce this borrower’s payment by $116, to $171. Under the improved ‘Pay as you Earn’ plan, his monthly payment amount would be even more manageable at only $114.

Borrowers looking for more information on income-based repayment visit http://studentaid.ed.gov/ibr.

The CFPB also released the Student Debt Repayment Assistant, an online tool that provides borrowers with information on income-based repayment, deferments, alternative payment programs, and much more. The Student Debt Repayment Assistant is available at ConsumerFinance.gov/students/repay

2. Improve Ease of Making Payments and Reduce Default Risk by Consolidating Loans

This would provide a discount on consolidation loans. This special consolidation initiative would keep the terms and conditions of the loans the same, and most importantly, beginning in January 2012, allow borrowers to make only one monthly payment, as opposed to two or more payments. Borrowers who take advantage of this special, limited-time consolidation option would also receive up to a 0.5 percent reduction to their interest rate on some of their loans.

3. Provide Consumers with Better Information to Make College Selection Decisions

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education have teamed up to launch a new “Know Before You Owe” project aimed at creating a model financial aid disclosure form, which will make it easier to compare aid packages offered by different institutions.

Iowa Education Reform Outline Rolled Out

deanfiihr — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:52:33 +0000

Governor Terry Branstad outlined his blueprint for Education Reform this week and House Democrats share the Governor’s goal of having world class schools for all our kids. That’s exactly why we fought so hard last year to keep preschool, prevent a two-year starvation diet for schools, and continue to raise student achievement through the Iowa Core Curriculum.

To read more about the proposed reform or leave a comment go to: http://iowahouse.org/educationreform

Hundreds of Iowans attend Speak Out for Iowa Education Rally

deanfiihr — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:58:05 +0000

Hundreds of Iowans including educators, legislators, students, and union supporters, crowded the west steps of the State Capitol during the Speak Out for Iowa Education Rally on April 13, 2011. Check out the photos below!