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Should higher starting teacher pay be central to Iowa education reform?
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Gov. Terry Branstad gave a sneak preview of his Condition of the State Monday by releasing details of the education reform package he hopes the split-control Legislature will approve this session.
Branstad is slated to spell out his 2013 agenda and offer a two-year budget plan when he addresses a joint session of the Legislature on Tuesday. In advance of that speech, the governor and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today released an education reform package that they say will bring Iowa closer to its goal of providing a world-class education to all children, no matter where they live.
Branstad told reporters at his weekly news conference that the package focuses on providing great teaching in every classroom to raise student achievement and to prepare Iowa’s children to compete for jobs in a competitive global economy.
The centerpiece of the Branstad-Reynolds administration’s education reform package is establishing a new teacher leadership and compensation system. The proposal is based on recommendations from the Task Force on Teacher Leadership and Compensation, which spent seven months studying the issue.
The teacher leadership and compensation system raises the status of the teaching profession and attracts and retains talented educators through various approaches, including raising Iowa’s minimum starting salary from $28,000 to $35,000 to make teaching more attractive.
Do you agree with that approach? Should any school reform legislation in Iowa include higher starting pay for teachers?
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One factor (but not the only factor) to consider is how teacher pay in Iowa compares to other states. You can gain some insight here.http://www.teacherportal.com/teacher-salaries-by-state/
From my review of this data it looks like Iowa is slipping relative to other states.
Off subject. Your “Gazette” LTE, two opinions from here: “Well said !”
So what if Iowa does not compare with California ,New York or Alaska…the cost of living is a lot less in Iowa than other states also…and California along with other states you love to compare Iowa with are broke,bankrupt….
Didn’t read the link material thoroughly, did you, Jeff? If you had done so, you would have seen that the educator-income ranking that it provides takes into account the relative cost of living between listed states… and it is a sad day when states like Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma are ranked higher than Iowa.
Well since Cedric brought up your LTE, here’s my thought on the one. Exactly what laws did Lanza circumvent when he went on his rampage? Did he wait the required waiting period? Did he observe and obey the “gun free” zone? Did he ask his mother if he could use her weapons? I’d love to hear specifics about the gun show loop hole LIBs are always chirping about.
Note that I said “well said” and mentioned nothing about the contents (arguments) of the letter. “Well said” could simply mean it was literate, coherent, and well composed.
Nice job trying to crawfish out of it, but the fact is, you brought up a subject that wasn’t contained in the article and it wasn’t flagged, so I just figured I’d join in. My post wasn’t to you about the letter, it was in direct response to Rich. You feel bad, but you started it.
I don’t feel bad.
I’d love to hear the pro-gun people explain why they oppose universal background checks. Do these people really want to defend the rights of people, including mentally unstable people and criminals, to get guns without a background check?
Hate to tell you Rich, but any gun bought interstate, any handgun purchased from a vendor gets a background check. I know you LIBs found a 40% number somewhere and are using it, but then again, facts aren’t usually your strong point. So, once more, let’s hear about these “loopholes”? I’ve never bought a gun at a gunshow where I didn’t have to fill out forms and run the existing check.
I know this is hard for you. It may be impossible. You are defending making guns available without background checks without providing an explanation why. I also note your post references handguns. What about rifles? I also suspect you have not left the state to buy a gun.
…and then there’s the INTRASTATE gun market, where just about anything goes. Granted, the Iowa gun market doesn’t have all of the exotic murder hardware that is available at the national level, but a reasonably well-comported Iowa maniac would have zero problems in acquiring whatever firearms and support equipment that he desired from private parties within the state. Check out veridiancu.org/sporting goods for a typical local venue.
Here’s a source that gives the status of “gun laws” of the states.
Note the 2nd row, “Background checks”. According to this source 41 states do not require background checks.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/12/us/status-of-state-gun-laws.html
How did a question regarding starting teacher pay in Iowa morph into an argument over guns?
Greer’s link didn’t say anything about guns. The linked to Gazette article didn’t say anything about guns. Smith’s post didn’t say anything about guns.
As far as Abernathy’s posts go, he’s not doing himself any favors by remaining ignorant of gun control laws already in place. Our background check system is a terrifying joke. Our laws are a patchwork state by state, sometimes county by county. Chicago’s restrictions don’t work because people can step across the city line and buy whatever they want in Indiana. DC has the same problem with Virginia. And no, Adam Lanza did not break any laws until the moment he killed his mother. Lanza had no criminal record, no history of violence, no record of serious mental illness, nothing at all that would have raised red flags on a background check. And we can’t say whether or not those guns were locked up or did he or did he not get Mommy’s permission to use those guns. Because we don’t know. And the only people who do know are both dead