Branstad education reforms receive tepid support

Labeling a new set of proposed education reforms the “centerpiece of the Branstad-Reynolds administration’s comprehensive effort to build support for making Iowa schools the best in the nation, if not the world,” the Governor’s Office unveiled its plan Monday.

The proposals, which are embedded in full below, call for a completely new salary system for public school teachers. The new system would place teachers in one of four categories — apprentice (those with 1-5 years experience), career (those with more than five years experience), mentor and master. Both salary and duties would be connected to each successive title in this new four-tiered pay system.

A teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, based at least in part on student test scores, would become part of an overall review process that would include peer evaluations. An introductory letter penned by Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds notes, however, that they want Iowans to consider the proposals “as a package” in lieu of single recommendations.

“This is a comprehensive plan with many pieces that all fit together,” the letter states.

Iowa Senate Democratic leaders took a measured approach to the proposal, saying that they favor boosting Iowa’s education system and that they want budget action that supports such changes.

“Iowa has good schools, but there is always room for improvement,” said Sen. Brian Schoenjahn (D-Arlington), a retired high school teacher who leads the Senate budget subcommittee on education. “While talking with people and visiting local schools, I’ve listened to educators, parents and students. They know that we can’t keep doing the same things in our schools and expect better results.”

Sen. Herman Quirmbach (D-Ames) leads the Senate Education Committee and teaches economics at Iowa State University. “We intend to give fair and serious consideration to [Gov. Branstad's] ideas,” he said. “The next step is to listen to educators, parents and students across the state to get their ideas, too, and to hear the reactions to Branstad’s suggestions.”

Quirmbach added that the next shoe in relation to education reform will drop in January, when Branstad presents his budget recommendations to the General Assembly.

Schoenjahn agreed, saying, “After the governor’s unprecedented recommendation last year of zero allowable growth for K-12 for two years and his efforts to slash funding for preschool, Governor Branstad will have a lot to prove next year about just how serious he is about improving education. The Governor’s got the right goals — but rhetoric without resources simply won’t cut it.”

The blueprint document released by the Branstad administration for further discussion does not attempt to outline a budgetary impact, but states that a final proposal to the Legislature next year will be combined with budget figures.

“More money, by itself, does not seem to be a recipe for successful change. Dumping in more case without meaningful changes just makes the same problems more expensive,” the report notes.

“While being more thoughtful and efficient with the money we have is important, world-class schools do require adequate resources to be successful. This blueprint features several aspects that require additional funding if we are to really move toward being internationally competitive. It is our intention to add funds to education spending, and this funding must be sustainable over the long term.”

One aspect of education that doesn’t appear to be back on the table following heated rhetoric during the 2011 General Assembly is Iowa’s universal and voluntary preschool. During the Monday press conference, Branstad said he does not expect the next legislative session to revisit preschool, indicating that he believed his office and lawmakers have reached a compromise. His office is proposing, however, that there be an assessment component to preschool offerings to ensure that students completing preschool are ready to enter kindergarten.

In addition to the new teacher pay scale, the plan calls for an expanded Iowa Core “to put Iowa’s standards on par with the highest-performing systems in the world.” Assessments of core learning would be offered at various stages of a child’s education progress, beginning at the post-preschool level. The assessments, however, would have included “value-added measures” that would take into account student background characteristics such as poverty or disability. Although individual teacher results will be included a personnel file, such information would not be available to the public through open-records requests. “This data should be used for improvement, not blame and shame,” the report notes.

The state would request a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law, “which unfairly punishes schools with high poverty rates.” Education groups and leaders throughout the state would be invited to design a new system of measurement and accountability that would, among other things, look at parent satisfaction and how school districts are spending taxpayer dollars.

Districts and schools that score high on this new system have “earned autonomy,” where the state only visits them to congratulate them, or perhaps to ask how we can take their ideas to other schools. Districts and schools that consistently struggle are provided additional supports, but are also subject to increasingly prescriptive direction from the state.

The proposal also hopes to stem a new tide of school innovation through flexible state mandates and an “Innovation Acceleration Fund” that could have the state paying for new private-public collaborative efforts. Through this program, the reform blueprint believes pathways that allow for innovative charter schools will be expanded.

The recommendations also revamp traditional education “seat-time” for students, encouraging district to move away from traditional education models and into a system by which students who have demonstrated a content mastery in a subject or course can enter into internships or more higher education options that could connect high school students with career options at an earlier date.

Both Democratic and Republican state official expect the proposal to be be a topic of ongoing discussion at town hall meetings throughout the state before a final legislative package is presented in January 2012.

A copy of the proposal is embedded below:

One Unshakable Vision: World-Class Schools for Iowa