A: Recently Barbara and I attended our granddaughter’s graduation from the University of Northern Iowa, our alma mater. Iowa is home to many outstanding colleges that provide higher education and technical training to the next generation. Preparing students to join the workforce, from the trades, to STEM and other academic pursuits, starts early in the classroom. To all the high school graduates about to cross the stage in their caps and gowns, I extend my congratulations on your scholastic achievement. Take pride in a job well done. Enjoy the pomp and circumstance.
I also invite you to take a moment to reflect on the people who helped get you here. Think back to the years spent in the classroom. I’m willing to bet that for most members of the Class of 2018, there’s at least one teacher or coach who made a big difference in the journey to your graduation day. Teachers make invaluable connections each and every day on the job with impressionable students who are navigating all the challenges and joys of childhood and adolescence. There’s a lot of turbulence to manage among the homework, extra-curricular activities and peer pressures that accompany a K-12 education. Not every student enters the classroom on a level playing field, but teachers wear many hats throughout the school day to provide an equal opportunity to learn.
In hometowns across our state, Iowans takes pride in upholding a strong heritage of educational excellence. In fact, Iowa hit a record-high graduation rate of 91.3 percent in 2016, achieving the best four-year high school graduation rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Last year, the graduating Class of 2017 reached a 91 percent graduation, still ranked among the best in the nation. That’s in no small measure attributable to the legions of classroom teachers who throw themselves into their work, making a difference in the lives of their students, year after year. I applaud all those who will or are pursuing a teaching career, including members of my own family who are following in the footsteps of my mother and sister, who taught for 49 years in the classroom.
As the school year winds down, I encourage Iowans to thank our dedicated teachers for all they do each and every day to prepare our students for the future. Considering that so many teachers routinely dig into their own pockets to pay for classroom supplies, I am glad the $250 federal tax deduction for teacher expenses was left intact in the new tax law. Finally, speaking from first-hand experience, I’m impressed by the engaged students across Iowa who pepper me with questions during high school visits I hold during my annual county meetings. It’s clear that teachers in Iowa are making a lasting contribution to society and doing their best to inspire an educated citizenry so important to self-government.
Q: How would your bipartisan bill Teachers Are Leaders Act help teachers and improve student achievement?
A: From one school year to the next, a common denominator for high student achievement is high-quality teachers. Recruiting and retaining qualified classroom educators is becoming increasingly imperative as teacher turnover rates are climbing. Replacing teachers from year to year contributes to higher costs for school budgets and lowers student achievement. Keeping pay competitive and expanding opportunities for professional development are factors linked to teacher retention.
The federal government has taken steps to close the achievement gap and provide equal educational opportunities for high-needs students, including Title I funding in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Act. However, the lion’s share of education decisions and budgets fall squarely in the hands of state governments, school boards and local communities.
From my years of oversight experience, I’ve learned it’s harder to extract accountability when government grows too big and far removed from the people it serves. Consider the insurmountable challenges created by the effort to federalize academic outcomes with the No Child Left Behind education law. With passage of Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, Congress restored local control to empower teachers so that they may identify what works best for their students in their classrooms. Innovations at the state and local level are best able to identify needs of teachers and students. Consider a professional development program already underway in Iowa called Teacher Leadership and Compensation system. Although constitutional boundaries limit federal involvement in local education, Congress has taken steps to provide resources for professional development. We can do more to help foster locally-driven programs that figure out what works. Encouraging laboratories of innovation across the country acknowledge that one-size-fits-all doesn’t work everywhere. The cream always rises to the top and this allows other states to implement ideas that work. Senator Joni Ernst has taken the lead on a bipartisan bill with Senator Chris Coons that will encourage more efforts like in Iowa to expand opportunities for classroom teachers to grow in their careers. I’ve joined their efforts to introduce the Teachers Are Leaders Act. It would allow the use of existing funds authorized by the Higher Education Act to bring high schools and colleges together to build professional development opportunities that would create teacher leadership programs; improve teacher retention and student achievement; and, extend teacher preparation and development beyond the first few years in the classroom. For example, innovative leadership strategies could encourage teachers to take on new roles to improve school culture, identify discipline needs and develop dual enrollment courses for their home schools. Opening doors for professional career development that fosters creativity, innovation and leadership skills for our teachers is good for students and will make our schools even better.
Teacher Appreciation Week is celebrated in May.
