Senate Journal: Page 48: Tuesday, January 14, 1997

  48 JOURNAL OF THE SENATE 2nd Day
  With all that we have done, some may think we've done it all. In today's
  rapidly
  changing world, I, for one, am not satisfied. Iowa must never stop improving
  education.

  Our challenge is to design schools that will keep Iowa at the forefront of
  educational
  excellence for the 21st century. We need to benchmark how our schools
  measure up to the highest levels of academic achievement in the world. To
  accomplish that, I
  will appoint a Commission on Educational Excellence for the 21st Century.
  This bipartisan group of citizens will assist us in developing a vision for
  strengthening
  Iowa's leadership in education.
  From the very beginning, Iowa's enlightened leaders had a vision to lead
  America in
  literacy by giving every Iowan access to quality education. They also
  recognized the importance of local control and parental involvement.
  Building on that tradition, I
  am directing the Department of Education to undertake the IowA+ Community
  High Schools program to encourage innovation and creativity and to expand
  community involvement in efforts to improve local schools.
  Our schools are strong because of the outstanding people who have chosen to
  make
  educating our children their life's pursuit. A decade ago, we began our
  efforts to increase teachers' salaries in order to attract the best and
  brightest. In 1997, we
  should increase the minimum starting salaries for Iowa teachers by 10
  percent.
  Along with our quality public schools, our state is blessed with outstanding
  nonpublic schools. Thousands of Iowa parents make afinancial sacrifice to
  send their children to the school of their choice. This year, I am
  recommending we double
  the tuition taxcredit to make nonpublic schools a more affordable option for
  Iowa families.

  Iowa has three world-renowned state universities and 15 outstanding area
  community colleges. The budget I am presenting includes$5 million a year for
  technology investments at our Regents institutions and community colleges. I
  am also
  recommending an 8 percent increase in the Iowa Tuition Grant for needy Iowa
  students attending our premier independent colleges and universities. We
  should also
  fund the National Guard Tuition Assistance Program to put higher education
  within reach of more Iowans and to help in recruitment for our outstanding
  Iowa
  National Guard.
  Iowa is a leader in distance learning. No state in America has the resource
  that we
  have with the Iowa Communications Network. We are adding well over a hundred
  classrooms each year and every school district will be connected by 1999.
  Advanced
  mathematics, the latest scientific research, foreign languages, and a
  seemingly endless flow of information will be available to Iowa students in
  every school district.

  Distance education must now be extended to all Iowa citizens. For our
  workers and
  professionals to be competitive in the ever-changing world economy, we must
  make all of the opportunities of our state's higher education institutions
  available to
  all of our people, no matter where they live.
  The ACCESS Education Through Distance Learning initiative will help us chart
  a
  course for broadening the horizons of all Iowans. Our independent colleges
  and universities, state universities, and community colleges all have an
  important role to
  play.

Iowa General Assembly

Index: Senate Journal (77th General Assembly: Session 1)

© 1997 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

Comments? sjourn@legis.iowa.gov.

Last update: Wed Jan 22 13:01:06 CST 1997
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