House Resolution 45 - Introduced
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY KRESSIG, BERRY, FREVERT, T. TAYLOR, JOCHUM, FOEGE,
1 3 REICHERT, SMITH, HEDDENS, DAVITT, WINCKLER, LENSING,
1 4 GASKILL, PETTENGILL, KUHN, WHITAKER, BUKTA, MURPHY,
1 5 MERTZ, MASCHER, SWAIM, LYKAM, WHITEAD, SCHUELLER,
1 6 ZIRKELBACH, D. TAYLOR, R. OLSON, JACOBY, and McCARTHY
1 7 A Resolution urging the Iowa congressional delegation
1 8 to make every effort to grant Iowa and other states
1 9 the necessary time and resources to implement the
1 10 requirements of the federal Individuals With
1 11 Disabilities Education Act relating to highly
1 12 qualified special education teachers.
1 13 WHEREAS, the State of Iowa recognizes the
1 14 importance of ensuring that every student, especially
1 15 a student who has an individual education program
1 16 (IEP), is taught by a highly qualified teacher; and
1 17 WHEREAS, Iowa has a chronic shortage of special
1 18 education teachers, a problem which only seems to
1 19 increase annually throughout Iowa's urban and rural
1 20 school districts; and
1 21 WHEREAS, the federal Individuals With Disabilities
1 22 Education Act (IDEA), enacted on December 3, 2004,
1 23 brings significant changes to Iowa's requirements for
1 24 "highly qualified" special education teachers; and
1 25 WHEREAS, the reauthorized IDEA requires that
1 26 special education teachers who teach multiple core
1 27 academic subjects, such as in a self=contained
1 28 classroom or in a resource room, have an academic
1 29 major or pass a competency test for every one of the
1 30 academic subjects they teach, which holds special
2 1 education teachers to a higher standard than their
2 2 general education peers who teach a single subject;
2 3 and
2 4 WHEREAS, the Act creates the possibility that
2 5 special education teachers who become "highly
2 6 qualified" in a core subject area may exercise their
2 7 seniority to solely teach that subject in the general
2 8 education setting, further increasing the special
2 9 education teacher shortage; and
2 10 WHEREAS, a broad coalition of education groups
2 11 advocate allowing special education teachers to
2 12 consult, collaborate, or team teach with a highly
2 13 qualified teacher in each of the subjects taught in
2 14 the special education class; and
2 15 WHEREAS, Iowa teachers who hold a class "C" special
2 16 education endorsement, meaning teachers who hold a
2 17 valid license and have completed at least one=half of
2 18 the credits necessary for a special education
2 19 endorsement but who are still working toward
2 20 completing the endorsement, do not meet the "highly
2 21 qualified" mandate and are largely using their own
2 22 resources to continue their education to become
2 23 properly endorsed; and
2 24 WHEREAS, the overall likely impact of the Act on
2 25 urban and rural schools is to magnify and spread the
2 26 already overwhelming difficulties these schools face
2 27 in finding highly qualified special education
2 28 teachers; and
2 29 WHEREAS, there is every possibility that many of
2 30 Iowa's school districts will need to make adjustments
3 1 to the learning environment, modify instructional
3 2 methods, and adapt curricula in order to maintain the
3 3 "highly qualified" status for special education
3 4 teachers; and
3 5 WHEREAS, IDEA does not include any full funding
3 6 provisions, nor, specifically, the guaranteed funding
3 7 language as proposed in the Hagel=Harkin amendment;
3 8 NOW THEREFORE,
3 9 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
3 10 That the members of the Iowa House of Representatives
3 11 hereby call upon the Iowa congressional delegation to
3 12 work with the U.S. Secretary of Education, or propose
3 13 legislation, to grant Iowa and other states the
3 14 necessary time and resources to implement the
3 15 requirements of IDEA; and
3 16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the
3 17 Iowa House of Representatives is instructed to prepare
3 18 a properly inscribed copy of this Resolution for the
3 19 members of Iowa's congressional delegation and U.S.
3 20 Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
3 21 LSB 3561HH 81
3 22 kh:nh/pj/5.1
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