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Rep. Upmeyer: Governor’s education plan could take up to 10 years to implement

From State Representative Linda Upmeyer –

It’s been an exciting week in Iowa for many reasons. One highlight was the World Food Prize that was awarded on Thursday. I have had the pleasure of attending a few of the speeches and seminars surrounding this event. It is awe inspiring to see what our leaders in agriculture are doing to innovate and better feed the world. I also had the chance to speak at the Fire Chief’s annual fall conference. With all of the field fires this fall, we truly appreciate our fire fighters and I was glad to have the chance to talk with them.

This summer, Governor Branstad held an education summit in Des Moines where he invited experts from across the country to come before Iowa teachers, administrators and lawmakers to discuss policies that could make Iowa’s schools the best in the nation. Since that event there has been a very important dialogue on the state of Iowa’s education system.

After a great deal of input, the governor unveiled his plan, a ‘blueprint’ for education reform which consists of an outline of ideas, which has just begun to be vetted by Iowans.

According to the governor, the essence of the plan is to make sure there is a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal in every building. Below is a brief breakdown of the governor’s proposal:

Great Teachers and Principals

A portion of the governor’s plan is meant to help improve the teaching profession, make sure that skilled educators and leaders are being produced by preparatory programs, proper support and mentoring is being provided to them, and a pay scale and career ladder that have impact are created.

High Expectations and Fair Measures

Another part of the governor’s plan focuses on student learning through high expectations and fair measures. The governor wants to improve and expand the Iowa Core and include assessments.

A Spirit of Innovation in Education

The final section of the plan recognizes that not all good ideas come from the state level department or the legislature. Many are found in the districts doing the work and making the effort to find creative ways to educate children and spend money efficiently.

Iowa’s Charter School law would be expanded to allow for the possibility of additional Charter Schools to exist like we see in Minnesota and other parts of the country.

The plan would also establish a parent and community engagement network to get parents and communities involved in their children’s education.

These are just a few highlights of the plan — to read it in its entirety, visit http://www.governor.iowa.gov/.

The education director, Jason Glass, believes the plan could take up to ten years to fully implement. Since this is a blueprint that is subject to change as additional input is gathered, there is still no solid cost available and that may not be available until the end of the year.

While we’re still gathering details and information about the governor’s plan, I believe it’s important to keep an open mind. I think we’ll all agree that making Iowa’s children the best educated in the world is a discussion worth having. I look forward to hearing your thoughts for reform and change as we continue to have these discussions.

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