The FIRST funnel came to a close this week. The pace to schedule subcommittees and committees to push bills through before the deadline keeps legislators busy from early morning and into the evening. This coming week and subsequent weeks will be filled with debating the 275+ bills that made it through both subcommittee and full committee. There are a great many competing interests weighing in on high-profile issues.
The teacher salary increase has its own bill and is not attached to the Area Education Agency topic. The feedback from superintendents, teachers’ union and more helped to form this legislation to responsibly raise teacher pay. This bill increases the minimum teacher salary $47,500 beginning next year, and then bumps it up again to $50,000 the following year. It will also increase the minimum wage for educational support staff to $15/hour. That number needs to be increased and I’ll work for ways to do so. Some have concerns about how this would affect veteran teachers’ pay. This bill addresses that with a plan for additional teacher salary supplements (TSS) money and increasing State Supplemental Aid by 3%, both of which would give schools additional money to spend on teacher salaries how they see fit.
Since the Governor’s original AEA reform proposal did not make it through the committee, discussions with stakeholders have continued and expanded to improve the legislation.
The goal is to improve special education outcomes for the children of Iowa. What this bill does NOT do:
–terminate AEA employees.
–disrupt special education services.
–prohibit AEA from performing any of its existing services.
The bill will create a task force to review the current system and look for areas for improvement and giving more flexibility to the school districts on how to spend their money.
The bill DOES:
—-Tie the salary of each AEA’s chief executive to the average salary of the superintendents of the districts they cover. Currently, the 9 chief administrators each make around $300,000 annually.
—-Put the Department of Education in charge of professional development and gives the DE true oversight over the AEA’s budgets.
—-Create a legislative task force to review the AEA system and make recommendations.
—-The money devoted to special education will stop at the school district, but school districts will be required to contract with the AEAs to provide those special ed services.
—-This bill gives school districts more control of media services and education services money over time. Many, particularly rural districts, may continue to use the AEAs for all services.
However, if they can provide those same services for less money, or more effectively through other means, they will have that flexibility.
****The school district would then have discretion over how best to spend those funds and provide the services they need to their students.
This week, the House Public Safety committee passed HSB 675 to improve school safety. It focuses on personnel able and ready to protect students in the event of an emergency. School employees can choose to apply IF their employer has not opted out of this program. This is not a mandate but a choice on the part of the school and personnel.
Schools with enrollment over 8,000 students shall employ at least one school resource officer (SRO) or private security officer. A grant program is created to match funds to help schools pay for these positions. The bill also creates a new permit that allows a school employee to carry weapons. The requirements for this permit are strictly prescribed and extensive. The bill provides provisions for those schools having under 8000 pupil enrollment. The process to obtain a permit is to pass extensive yearly training, repeated background checks, medical checks, and communication with law enforcement. The bill has provisions for those schools having under 8000 pupil enrollment.
The Natural Resources Committee, in which I am a member, had Doctor Keith Schilling, State Geologist speak to us on our state water condition, our aquifers water quality, and levels. It was very informative. The almost four years of drought, and large business uses have affected our water levels. Many years are required to build back our water supplies. Dr. Schilling has the complex task of mapping our underground aquifers. Understanding the condition and status of our Iowa water is essential to every Iowan. There will be many busy weeks ahead.
