DES MOINES, IA (04/17/2012)(readMedia)-- Tammy Wawro, an educator serving as the Resolution Team Facilitator in the Cedar Rapids School District and as the Cedar Rapids Education Association president, was elected the Iowa State Education Association's (ISEA) new president Thursday, April 12, by the nearly 300 delegates who attended the ISEA's annual meeting in Des Moines.

Wawro has been involved in a variety of Association roles throughout her career including serving as vice president of the ISEA for the last four years.

Wawro received National Board Certification in 1999. She received her bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Northern Iowa in 1995 and a master's degree in educational technology in 2002.

"Tammy will make an excellent president," said outgoing ISEA president Chris Bern. "She has all of the qualities that make her an outstanding leader for the 21st century. She is committed to giving teachers the tools and resources they need and ensuring that every student has a quality teacher in the classroom. Tammy knows it takes a strong partnership to improve our schools and is determined to work with political leaders, administrators, parents, teachers, students, and the community at large to make sure it happens," added Bern. "The ISEA is in great hands with Tammy leading."

"I am excited to work with all of the talented members who make up the ISEA and humbled by the years of experience and expertise that exists within our ranks. With the combined strength of our membership and the knowledge in our profession, we are an integral part of any discussion about education today. The ISEA is the leading voice in education, and I will make sure we are at any table where discussions are taking place," said Wawro.

Also newly elected at ISEA's annual meeting is vice president elect, Mike Beranek, an elementary teacher from Western Hills Elementary School in West Des Moines.

The ISEA is a professional association made up of nearly 34,000 educators dedicated to supporting and protecting a quality public education for all Iowa students. Great Education. It's an Iowa Basic!

Washington, DC - Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) and a number of his colleagues testified yesterday before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health in support of various pieces of legislation relating to health care for American war veterans.  Schilling in December introduced H.R. 3723, the Enhanced Veteran Health Care Experience Act.  

"I truly believe you can tell a lot about a country by the way it treats its veterans," Schilling said in his testimony.  "I'm pursuing this legislation in large part because of the many constituents who constantly share their stories of having to drive long distances while experiencing substantial wait times in an effort to make sure they can get the health care they need.  But I also experienced this in my own family when helping to take care of my father - who served in Korea - near the end of his life.  We had to drive several hours to and from Iowa City for him to get the care he needed.  While we appreciated the service and the care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, I also believe that we must continue to make improvements for our veterans."

This legislation would allow, but not require, veterans to use fee-based care in their home towns with their own doctors.  Under the current veterans' health care system, veterans are shuttled back and forth between the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and their local doctors' offices, bound by the red tape that exists in the fee-based care system administered by the VA.  This red tape only exacerbates working with their local doctors' offices to receive the health care they need.  While increasing the ease with which veterans can receive care, studies and statements by the Government Accountability Office, Office of the Inspector General, and Veterans Service Organizations suggest that implementing the changes in this bill will create savings for the VA and address medical care concerns that veterans have when working with the VA fee-based care system.

"This idea is near and dear to me, and has received a positive response from veterans I have spoken with in my district," Schilling said in his testimony.  "The Congressional process is in place so that we can perfect legislation.  That is what I am working to do on this bill.  Since H.R. 3723's inception and also from its introduction, I have continued to work with Veteran Service Organizations to address their concerns.  I hope to continue to do this with the VSOs and the Committee."

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"Will Today's Agriculture Boom be Tomorrow's Bust: Are You Prepared?"

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - April 17, 2012 - As Iowa farmers head to the fields to plant what could be one of the largest corn crops on record, the state's largest grassroots farm organization is bringing a line-up of heavy hitters to Iowa, to make sure today's boom, doesn't turn into tomorrow's 'bust.'  The summit will take place July 23-24 at the Iowa State Center Scheman Building on the ISU campus.

"The Farm Crisis of the 80's taught farmers that no industry is invincible to a downturn, and with Iowa's thriving farm sector insulating much of our state from the worst hits of the recession, we have to look towards new expertise, new risk management tools, to make sure farming doesn't go the way of the auto industry," says Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) President Craig Hill.

"There are commonalities and differences in place today that we also saw prior to the 1980's Farm Crisis; then and now, we've seen land prices and commodity prices double or triple in a relatively short period of time," says IFBF Director of Research and Commodity Services David Miller.  "Although most of today's farmers have better cash flow and less debt because of low interest rates, there are other risks which threaten Iowa's agricultural prosperity, which center around unprecedented federal debt and the very real possibilities of farm program cuts, which affect the sustainability of many types of farming.  Today, our market strength is more tightly connected to global markets, global weather disasters, global trade and those are the things that bring new vulnerabilities to the business of farming," says Miller.

National experts ranging from economist Danny Klinefelter of Texas A&M University and Jeff Plagge, president-elect of the American Bankers Association, to Iowa State University weather expert Elwynn Taylor, a panel of D.C. experts from the Senate and House Ag Committees and Daniel Mitchell of the D.C. 'think tank,' the CATO Institute, are among the nationally-recognized monetary, policy, trade and economic experts tapped for the July IFBF economic summit.

The price of the two-day summit is $50 for Iowa Farm Bureau members and $150 for non-members.  Information about the summit, lodging, on-line registration forms and a complete listing of the panelists and schedule can be found at www.iowafarmbureau.com.  Registration deadline for the IFBF economic summit is July 17.

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