Iowa lawmakers saying education overhaul unlikely

DES MOINES (AP) ? Despite an education summit, meetings around the state and long legislative hearings, legislative leaders acknowledge big changes to Iowa?s education system are unlikely this session.

Gov. Terry Branstad said last summer that an education overhaul would be one of his top priorities for the Legislature, and he and Education Department Director Jason Glass invested a vast amount of time on the effort. They said Iowa?s K-12 system had lost its place among the nation?s leaders, leaving Iowa in the middle of the pack at best and failing the state?s children.

Their plan initially called for changes including linking teacher pay to performance in the classroom, requiring potential teachers to meet grade point standards before they could seek education training, changing student testing and not advancing students if they didn?t meet reading benchmarks.

After complaints from teacher groups and others, Branstad agreed to delay the proposed salary changes, and now it appears that many of his other proposals will fall by the wayside. The House, where Republicans hold a majority, approved a measure that included most of Branstad?s proposals, but the plans have stalled in the Senate, controlled by Democrats.

?Governor Branstad had made clear his intention to pass bold, substantive education reform this legislative session. The continued stagnation in the legislative process will lead to further stagnation in our schools,? Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht said in a statement. ?It is precisely the half-measures of the past that have given us the stagnated test scores of the present.?

House Republicans also expressed frustration.

?I?m very disappointed,? said Rep. Greg Forristall, R-Macedonia, the chairman of the House Education Committee. ?We worked very hard on this. We had over 12 hours of subcommittee work with public comments. We had a public hearing and we spent a lot of time on the floor.?

Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal said Republicans and Democrats simply couldn?t find common ground on most of the education proposals. That includes toughening standards on people studying to be teachers and holding back students with reading problems.

Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said the one area of agreement appears to be for increasing spending on early elementary programs.

?Everybody agrees that $10 million for robust programs to help children that are lagging in literacy skills in the early elementary grades is a good idea,? said Gronstal. ?We can agree on $10 million to make sure every kid in the early elementary grades gets the skills they need to succeed.?

Gronstal said he wished more changes were possible, but changing the state?s education system is a huge task and can?t be accomplished without widespread agreement on those proposals.

?I would say I?m disappointed both in terms of the high praise and talk about making change in education we had last summer, but if there is common ground we can agree on at a minimum let?s grab that and get it done,? said Gronstal.

The Democrats will begin moving their education proposals Monday, Gronstal said.

Senate Minority Leader Jerry Behn said he thinks some progress will be made this session, but Branstad?s proposed overhaul will have to wait until after the election. Opposition by Democrats to elements of Branstad?s plan likely will be part of the campaign this fall, Behn said.

?We?ll have our discussion and we?ll have our debate and the Iowa people will decide,? said Behn, R-Boone. ?I believe we?ll see more after the election than prior to the election.?

Glass, the Education Department director, also promised to keep pushing for what he calls ?bold, meaningful changes to improve our schools.?

He acknowledged the Legislature hadn?t acted quickly on Branstad?s plans, but he took a philosophical approach, arguing that big changes sometimes take time.

?We didn?t get here overnight and we can?t expect to turn things around overnight,? Glass said. ?Moving an entire state system takes patience, persistence and vision.?