Senate Journal: Page 5: Monday, January 8, 2001

  I would like my daughter to become a teacher in Iowa.  I would like her to
  become a
  member of that that elite group, a group of teachers that are among the best
  in the
  nation.

  Unfortunately, the future of teaching in Iowa is uncertain.  We are fools if
  we
  assume that Iowa student achievement will continue to be number one or
  number two
  while Iowa teacher salaries are 35th in the nation.  Eventually, either
  student
  achievement will decline or Iowa teacher salaries will increase and better
  reflect their
  success with students.  The current imbalance will not continue.

  We must take bold steps this year to reward those great teachers that have
  given
  our children such a good start.  If we fail to act now, we will lose them to
  states that
  value education more than we do.  We must show the next generation of
  teachers that
  we recognize their professionalism and will reward it accordingly.

  And we must act now.  Forty percent of our teachers will retire in the next
  ten
  years.  There will never be a better opportunity to ensure a bright future
  for quality
  education in Iowa.

  If we do the right things this year, Iowa children will continue to have the
  best and
  the brightest teachers and their school achievement will reflect this.  If
  we do the right
  things this year, three or four years from now there will be a good chance
  my daughter
  will want to stay in Iowa.

  If we don't do the right things, I fear I'll have to visit my grandchildren
  in Texas or
  California or one of those thirty-four states that value education more than
  we do.

  Democrats stand here today committed to work with you in a bipartisan way to
  solve this challenge.  Both Democrats and Republicans promised to address
  this issue
  during the last campaign.  Now it is time for us to sit down and work
  together to make
  sure our children get the education they deserve.

  We must commit significant new dollars to this effort.  This session's
  response to
  the crisis in education can't be just another political shell game.  We must
  do better
  than the majority party's last effort in this area, the one then Governor
  Branstad
  referred to as "hesitant halting half steps."

  We will help no one by funding teacher salaries by crowding more kids into a
  single
  class or by stealing from technology funds or by decimating staff
  development budgets.

  Recruiting and keeping the best teachers possible for our kids, that should
  be the
  defining issue of this session.  Let me also briefly say what this session
  shouldn't be
  about.  It shouldn't be about playing politics.

  Election years are about defining our differences.  We have just come
  through one
  of the closest and most divisive national elections in our history.  What
  Iowans want
  and need now is for us to solve problems.

  Let's give Iowans a break from partisan politics for this session and make
  this year
  about securing our children's future.

  Thank you, Madam President.

© 2001 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: Sun Jan 13 11:17:37 CST 2002
URL: /DOCS/GA/79GA/Session.1/SJournal/00000/00005.html
jhf