Iowa
News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Iowa
Recruitment & Retention
Tiny Iowa District Trolling for Pupils
But neighboring schools are not amused by the ploy.
States
State of the States
Pre-K, Teachers’ Pay Top Agenda in Iowa
In his first budget address last week, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver called for nearly $190 million in new spending on education in fiscal 2008
School & District Management
Iowa Policy Changes Would Range From Pre-K Through High School
Education took center stage in Iowa’s 2006 legislative session, resulting in measures to boost teacher salaries, start a pilot program that bases teacher pay on student achievement, expand preschool, and establish statewide graduation requirements.
Education
Go Your Own Way
In the late 1990s, when the nation’s governors and business leaders threw their weight behind the push for statewide academic standards, Iowa begged to differ. With its strong tradition of local control and history of comparatively high performance, the state felt little compulsion to get on the bandwagon. “We’re not going to give up local control just because some CEO says we need statewide standards,” then-Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican, told U.S. News & World Report in 1996.
Teaching Profession
State of the States
Final Term to Focus on Pre-K-12 Education
Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa used his annual Condition of the State Address on Jan. 10 to shove aside any notion that he will be a lame-duck leader in the final year of his two-term tenure.
Assessment
The Road Less Traveled
Iowa appears to have lost some of its academic edge over other states a decade after bucking the trend toward imposing state standards for what students should learn.
School & District Management
In Iowa, Some Superintendents Serve Two Masters
Like 18 other district chiefs in Iowa, Superintendent Bob Lehman splits his time between two school systems, each of which pays half his salary. Though sharing leaders helps small districts cut costs, it makes for a taxing job.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Iowa Law Ends Use of Finger-Scan Technology
A little-noticed Iowa law, designed to protect children by forbidding schools to collect their fingerprints, has halted the use of new technology that district leaders say has improved cafeteria and library operations.
Equity & Diversity
Immigrants Trigger Change, White Exodus in Iowa District
Like a growing number of other places in America’s heartland, West Liberty, Iowa, is watching its share of minority students shift into the majority. With the federal No Child Left Behind Act pushing schools to improve instruction for immigrant as well as U.S.-born students, raising test scores will be no easy task, as many Hispanic students here are still learning English.
Law & Courts
Living History
Forty years after they stood up for their right to wear anti-war armbands, Mary Beth and John Tinker advise students that free speech is still worth fighting for.
School & District Management
A State Capitals Roundup
Iowa Debates New Rules For Small Districts, Schools
A bipartisan committee of 12 Iowa legislators released a plan last week that strongly encourages the state’s small school districts to share more resources and sets the stage for establishing minimum sizes for both districts and high schools.
States
Iowa Governor Pushes Preschool Expansion
Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa is stumping statewide to galvanize support to expand his state’s early-childhood-education system and strengthen high school course requirements.
Teaching Profession
Union Leader's Tune Ridicules Federal Law
Lily Eskelsen, the National Education Association’s secretary-treasurer, showed up for a party here with an acoustic guitar and, about a half-hour into the meeting, launched into verse.
Teaching Profession
As Some Union Affiliates Back Candidates, NEA Sits Tight
At low-key candidate speeches and raucous campaign rallies, teachers and union members have shown a determination to play a major role early in this year's presidential election.