Listening tour stops scheduled Benton, Rock Valley, and Southeast Polk Community School Districts

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will visit three Iowa school districts this month to learn more about how the first year of Iowa's new Teacher Leadership and Compensation System has gone, starting with the Benton Community School District today.

Iowa's Teacher Leadership and Compensation System is the centerpiece of Iowa's landmark 2013 education reform package. It is being phased in over three years, with a price tag of $150 million annually when fully in place in 2016-17. Iowans agreed to make this investment because it's critical to restore our schools to best in the nation and give students a globally competitive education.

Better utilizing the expertise of many of Iowa's top teachers in new roles will help schools improve instruction and raise achievement. Those new roles include instructional coaches, mentors and model teachers. With higher expectations for all students, teacher leaders support the more demanding work teachers must do by analyzing data, fine tuning lessons and co-teaching.

Benton is among the first 39 school districts, with about a third of enrollment statewide, to adopt teacher leadership systems this school year. Another 76 school districts, with about a third of students statewide, will adopt teacher leadership systems in 2015-16. The goal is for all remaining districts to have their teacher leadership systems in place in 2016-17.

"We are confident that this unprecedented collaboration by teacher leaders, teachers and school administrators will transform education across Iowa," said Branstad. "Broad, bipartisan agreement in the Legislature allowed us to create the most extensive teacher leadership system in the nation."

"One of the biggest selling points for new Iowa's Teacher Leadership and Compensation System is that it will do more to attract and retain highly effective teachers," said Reynolds. "It is changing the culture of schools with more opportunities for ongoing professional development right in the classroom."

In addition to Benton, the governor and lt. governor will visit the Rock Valley and Southeast Polk Community School Districts.

The following teacher leadership listening tour stops are open to the media:

Wednesday, April 15, 2015 

11 a.m. Benton County Teacher Leadership Presentation

Atkins Elementary Center - Teacher Leadership Center

217 Fourth Ave.

Atkins, IA

 

Wednesday, April 22, 2014

12:30 p.m. Sioux County Teacher Leadership Presentation

Rock Valley Community School District Library

1712 20^th Ave.

Rock Valley, IA

Note: A tour of Rocket Manufacturing will follow

 

 

Monday, April 27, 2015

7:30 a.m. Polk County Teacher Leadership Presentation

Southeast Polk Junior High School Orchestra Room

8325 Northeast University Ave.

Pleasant Hill, IA

 

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(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced the launch of Give Back Iowa, a six week challenge running from April 14-May 31 to engage Iowans in employer supported volunteering.

"Give Back Iowa complements my 'Call to Service' initiative to increase the number of Iowans that are volunteering, as well as the number of hours they serve to 50 hours a year to make Iowa a leader in volunteerism nationwide," said Governor Terry E. Branstad.

Iowa employers are invited to participate in the Give Back Iowa Challenge to encourage their employees to volunteer and report their volunteer hours. Employers with the highest average number of volunteer hours per employee will be recognized with a visit by the governor or lieutenant governor to their workplace.

Volunteering has not only a significant impact on meeting community needs, but employer supported volunteering leads to improved employee engagement, organizational commitment, job satisfaction and retention, which can improve business outcomes, according to research.

"As the Governor and I look to increase employer volunteerism in Iowa, we are asking for the support of employers across the state. We believe Iowa should strive to be the leader in volunteering," said Reynolds.  "Service is a key ingredient for meeting Iowa's goals for education, job creation, and health."

The launch of Give Back Iowa aligns with National Volunteer Week, April 12-18, a program of Points of Light, which is about taking action and encouraging individuals and their respective communities to demonstrate their collective power to make a difference.

Employers can register at any time during the challenge. Employers who have already registered include :

• Alliant Energy
• Bankers Trust
• Casey's General Stores, Inc.
• Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa
• Des Moines University
• Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines
• Fifth Judicial District, Department of Correctional Services
• Hy-Vee, Inc.
• Iowa Bankers Association
• Iowa Board of Educational Examiners
• Iowa Department of Corrections
• Iowa Department of Public Health
• Iowa Division of Banking
• Iowa Economic Development Authority
• Iowa Finance Authority
• Iowa Veterans Home
• Midwest Heritage Bank
• Riverside Casino & Golf Resort
• U.S. Cellular
• Vermeer Corporation
• Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield
• Wells Enterprises, Inc.
• Wells Fargo
• West Music Company

Complete information and resources on how to participate and find volunteer opportunities are provided in the Give Back Iowa toolkit available at www.volunteeriowa.org/employers.

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About the ICVS (or Volunteer Iowa)

The Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service and its partner agencies work with organizations and individuals on three main fronts. The first is to help agencies develop quality programs that use service as a strategy to fulfill their missions and address Iowa's greatest areas of need. The second is to help engage Iowans in their communities by promoting service and expanding the volunteer base. Finally, the third area of work is to connect individuals with appropriate service opportunities by building the volunteer infrastructure. More information is available at www.volunteeriowa.org.

(DES MOINES) - Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad today signed the following six bills into law:

House File 455: an Act requiring the submission of a corporate governance annual disclosure to the commissioner of insurance by certain insurers of insurance groups, and including penalties and applicability date provisions.

House File 496: an Act establishing certain privileges claimed for or by military victim advocates.

House File 535: an Act relating to non-substantive code corrections.

House File 536: an Act relating to statutory corrections which may adjust language to reflect current practices, insert earlier omissions, delete redundancies and inaccuracies, delete temporary language, resolve inconsistencies and conflicts, update ongoing provisions, or remove ambiguities, and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions.

Senate File 217: an Act concerning Iowa Finance Authority duties regarding the title guaranty board and the shelter assistance fund.

Senate File 392: an Act relating to hunter education license requirements, providing for a hunting license with an apprentice hunter designation, and including penalty provisions.

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Visits aimed at expanding trade and investment opportunities

(DES MOINES) - Governor Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds announced today that they will lead trade missions to South Korea and Brazil respectively.  Both trips are aimed at expanding trade and investment opportunities and are being coordinated by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA).

Brazil is Iowa's fifth-largest trading partner, with exports exceeding $500 million in manufactured and value-added goods in 2014.  South Korea is Iowa's ninth-largest export destination, with exports close to $367 million in manufactured and value-added goods during the same period.  The Governor and Lt. Governor have led trade missions to both destinations in the past.

"We have reaped benefit from previous trade missions and look forward to building on the foundations we have laid in the past," said Governor Branstad.  "Trade missions like this one allow Iowa companies to expand their export markets outside of the U.S. and ultimately create more jobs here at home."

Iowa companies in all industry sectors are participating or will be invited to participate in these trade missions.  Companies will have one-on-one, pre-qualified appointments targeted to their objectives, whether that is developing or expanding direct export sales, locating distributors or agents, or conducting market research, among other goals.  Company recruitment for the Brazil mission has already concluded, while recruitment for the South Korea mission will begin shortly.

"These trade missions will help build on Iowa's success in exporting to Brazil and South Korea and will continue to strengthen our partnership with these countries," said Lt. Governor Reynolds. "With a record-breaking $15.1 billion in exports last year, Iowa is truly prospering from international trade.  It is important that we continue this positive momentum."

Under Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds, Iowa's exports have increased by nearly 39 percent, from $10.8 billion to $15.1 billion.

The Brazil mission will take place April 25 - May 2, 2015 and is comprised of visits to Sao Paulo and Ribeirão Preto. The South Korea mission is scheduled for September 7-13, 2015, with Seoul being the primary destination for this mission.  Highlights for both missions include exploring foreign direct investment opportunities, meetings with government and industry association officials, briefings on each market and Growing Iowa's Global Partnerships events.  Iowa companies will participate in meetings specific to their market entry or expansion needs.

The IEDA not only markets Iowa products and services, educates Iowa businesses on exporting and assists global companies wishing to establish or expand operations in Iowa, but also explores opportunities internationally for investment within the state.   To find out more about these services or other trade missions that the IEDA is planning, please visit http://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/Programs/Intl.

Taxpayer dollars will not be spent on the governor's and lt. governor's travel. Their travel will be paid by private donations to the Iowa Economic Development Authority Foundation.

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