Senate Journal: Page 169: Thursday, January 28, 1999

  In the first years of life the responsibility for teaching properly belongs
  to the
  parents of each child.  All parents must be their child's first and best
  teacher.  But few
  of us know where to begin or how to start.  We can help.  By doubling our
  investment
  in newly-created empowerment communities, we can give these parents looking
  for
  help the information, the tools, and the assistance they need to prepare
  their children
  for school. By taking this first step today we will make sure that when our
  children
  take their first steps to school, they will be ready to learn.

  When they start their first years in school, they must learn the basics
  well. That's
  why, ladies and gentlemen of the General Assembly...  That's why teachers
  must be
  better prepared.  Schools must monitor student achievement and be held
  accountable
  for results.  So let us begin today by committing 10 million dollars in the
  first year and
  increasing that amount by 10 million dollars for each year in the next four
  years, so we
  can provide our schools with the resources necessary to reduce class sizes,
  to improve
  teacher skills, and to hold schools accountable. Our goal is simply stated -
  we must
  guarantee that every child in this state is reading well by the time he or
  she enters
  fourth grade.

  But if we are to do our first job well... more is needed.  For the first
  time, we should
  commit state aid to make sure our schools are safe and free from fire and
  safety
  hazards and to provide more classroom space. Over the next five years we
  propose
  building a fund of 50 million dollars to help local school districts meet
  their building
  needs, while at the same time providing relief for property taxpayers.  Our
  goal, again
  simply stated... is adequate class space for each child and each educator in
  this state.

  As we attempt to make our students first in the nation in education, we must
  continue our commitment to technology by making permanent our current
  investment
  of 30 million dollars per year, and enable its use not only for hardware and
  software
  purchases, but also staff development.  Our goal is to keep Iowa students on
  the
  cutting edge of technology.

  I applaud the members of the General Assembly in addressing the critical
  issue of
  school funding early in the session. Together we will improve our commitment
  to local
  schools by increasing allowable growth, by providing state-funded budget
  guarantees
  for those schools struggling with declining enrollments and by providing
  accelerated
  funding for schools that have to cope with rapidly rising student numbers.
  Our goal
  should always be to adequately fund schools with each student being treated
  fairly and
  equitably.

  At the same time, we must support our educators in their fight to make Iowa
  schools drug and violence free.  We will take the first steps of
  intervention at the first
  signs of trouble in junior high and middle schools.  So we need to expand
  the successful
  program of juvenile court liaisons by adding 76 new schools to the 107
  schools that
  currently exist to aid our at-risk student population and to return
  discipline to the
  classroom and to the hallways of each and every school in this state.  Our
  goal is to
  provide a safer, better learning environment in which all of our students
  can learn well
  without fear or intimidation.

  Lorenzo Luis Sandoval left college early in the 1970's. He served the
  Hispanic
  migrant workers of Iowa for over 20 years and earned the League of United
  Latin
  American Citizens Iowa Man of the Year award.  With the aid of an Iowa
  Tuition
  Grant, he fulfilled his lifetime dream of graduating from Grand View College
  in 1992.

© 1999 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

Comments about this site or page? sjourn@legis.iowa.gov.
Please remember that the person listed above does not vote on bills. Direct all comments concerning legislation to State Legislators.

Last update: Fri Jan 29 13:40:38 CST 1999
URL: /DOCS/GA/78GA/Session.1/SJournal/00100/00169.html
jhf