Taylor's News from the Hill: Education Reform is on the Move

Taylor’s News from the Hill

Education Reform is on the Move

The Governor’s Education Reform bill took a step closer toward enactment this week as it passed out of the Education Committee late Wednesday night. The bill received several hours of consideration in committee and after amendments, it has changed considerably. The final bill passed by a party-line vote of 13-10. It has a few more steps to take before it is eligible for floor consideration.

Here are some of the notable changes:

Division II – Training and Employment of Teachers

The Teach Iowa Scholar Program, a program that will provide $4,000 per year grants for up to 5 years for “high-caliber” teachers to teach in Iowa. An amendment in committee opened this up to applicants from other states as well, but with preference to Iowa students.

Division III – Iowa Promise Diploma Seal Program

This division was pared down to a concept with a directive for fleshing that concept out. The program was renamed to “Certificate of Distinction” with a notation of achievement being placed on a student’s transcript, when the program gets designed. The $4 million appropriation was removed and the requirement for local boards to implement the program was removed. What’s left is the establishment a council tasked with creating the certificate program and the parameters surrounding it. Implementation will come with the legislature’s approval at a later date. An appropriation of $200,000 was designated to complete the assigned task.

Assessment language was added, requiring that the use of assessments that track student growth, provide valuable feedback, test more grades, and provides outcomes for accountability systems. 

Division IV – Teacher and Administrator Development Systems

Changes here include keeping the Iowa Teaching Standards in statute, but still requiring the department to recommend changes to the legislature. Evaluations for teachers (and already for administrators) are annual, with peer evaluations being removed. Evaluations for teachers are to incorporate student growth, classroom observation, and student surveys. Evaluations for administrators are to incorporate student outcomes, school growth, and the ability to lead. An additional requirement would be that in order for a teacher to assume a leadership role, they must be rated as “effective” or higher on their evaluation.

Division V – Iowa Teachers Career and Compensation Matters

The heart of the bill, the teacher leadership compensation and career pathways portion, was altered in committee as well. The program is now an optional program for districts. Additionally, should they enter the program and decide it is not working out, they can opt out of the program, as well, however the per pupil allocation associated with the program would not continue. The base salary pay for teachers was lowered from $35,000 to $32,000. And initial teachers would not be required to have a 75% teaching load; it would be a full teaching load, as initial teachers today have. 

A few additional changes are, site based review councils (councils formed to make recommendations for leadership teacher roles) would not have to be on a per-building basis, but can cover more than one building in a district. The commission on leadership and compensation would be appointed by the governor instead of the director of the Department of Education. And the $10 million assistance to high-needs schools can be spent on things other than teacher salaries, if the school board determines there are more effective ways to use those funds.

Division VI and beyond

A new division was added to the bill to house a few additions. They are: requiring the department to create a Building Performance Program, whereby all school buildings in the state would be given ratings based on student achievement, student growth, graduation rates, parent satisfaction and participation rates, and a few other factors; creating a pilot program for extended learning opportunities for students in need; and a new directive for the Competency-Based Education (CBE) task force, that convened last year, to develop a plan and proposed timeline for taking CBE state-wide.

The changes to the bill give school districts a bit more flexibility with a program that could lead to difficult implementation in some situations. With a phased-in approach, school districts deciding whether this program can help or hurt their district can take the time they need through a planning year, and potentially two years of implementation by other school districts before making the final decision. They have the option of submitting an alternative plan to the DE or opting out if after 3 years of planning they can’t make it work for their district.

Additionally there is accountability placed into the bill in the form of the 3-year review of the Teacher/Leadership Program, enhanced teacher and administrator evaluations, and the Building Performance Program.

Lastly, the amendments add some continuity with the education reform discussion by giving new directives to the CBE task force and taking steps to implement other task force recommendations, including the extended learning pilot project.

The bill now travels to the Appropriations Committee and the Ways and Means Committee for consideration before being eligible for Floor consideration in the House.

We continue to work hard in the Iowa House to ensure a thoughtful education reform bill. Please keep your comments and suggestions coming. I can always be reached by email or phone.

Representative Rob Taylor

House District 44

(515) 240-7019

Rob.taylor@legis.iowa.gov