Schneider Statehouse Report: Supports Statewide Evaluations and Increased Starting Teacher Pay

Education issues remained in the spotlight this week. The House and Senate have passed competing education reform plans, and a conference committee was formed this week to iron out the differences between their plans and the Governor’s education plan. 

Ideally, the conference committee will agree on a plan that combines the best parts of the Senate Democrats’ plan, the House Republicans’ plan, and the Governor’s plan.

I’d like to see a plan that increases accountability for student achievement through a statewide evaluation system, makes teaching positions in Iowa more attractive to in-state and out-of-state graduates by raising starting teacher pay, and emphasizes classroom time by giving school districts the option to change instructional time from 180 days to 1,080 hours.  Additionally, I believe that maintaining local control is an important factor in reforming Iowa’s education system.

Another issue we need to address is the growing cost of post-secondary education. Like many people, my wife Lisa and I both left college with student loans that we’ll be paying off for years to come. One way to help manage the cost of higher education is to make sure that tuition is affordable.

I recently co-sponsored legislation that would have helped accomplish this by prohibiting the state universities from using in-state students’ tuition money to fund student aid (commonly referred to as a “tuition set-aside”). It also required state universities to lower their 2013-14 tuition for in-state students by the amount of the tuition set-aside they charged each in-state student during the 2012-13 academic year.

It’s important that our state universities make student aid available to students who need it. But I believe that their foundations are a better source for student aid than tuition dollars. Foundations raise money from willing donors who can afford to make a contribution from their discretionary income.

The tuition set-aside program requires most students to borrow more money to pay for their own tuition. In effect, the tuition set-aside program funds student aid with borrowed money. As tuition rates continue to increase, the tuition set-aside program becomes more and more unfair to the average student who has to borrow money to pay for tuition.

As we move toward consensus on an education plan, I’ll continue to push for legislation that helps prepare Iowa students to compete in a global economy after they graduate. I’ll continue to fight for meaningful reforms that increase accountability, reduce costs for Iowa students, and make classroom time a priority.