By Natalie Zarowny
nzarowny@cbs4qc.com
An education overhaul is in the works for Iowa.
That's the word from Governor Terry Branstad.
"It focuses on ensuring great teaching in every classroom and dramatically raising student achievement in our state." said Governor Branstad.
The centerpiece of the proposal is to create a new teacher leadership and salary plan, pairing new teachers with veteran teachers to act as mentors.
It would also raise Iowa's minimum starting salary by $7 thousand dollars to attract more teachers.
The package has some other elements as well, like a big focus on bringing Iowa up to par on test scores.
The ultimate goal?
Become a top performer on national tests.
Doing this means partly, updating teacher and administrator evaluations.
Not all parents like the idea.
Stacie DeVries put her school age kids in private instead of public school, and part of the reason she made the choice is the long standing emphasis on test scores.
"By having children taught to the test and creating more standards to hold teachers accountable for that, I don't know if that's the route to go for our public education system," said DeVries.
Some other parents don't see a problem with it.
"I think it's wonderful. I have a lot of friends who are teachers and I'd love to see them have the resources they need to help the kids get a better education," said Caroline Jens, mother of two kids in the Iowa public school system.
Test scores aren't the only other part of the new package.
There's also expansion on a teacher initiative program and an online learning program.
Plus, a new system that gives special diploma seals to top graduating high school students.
If the education overhaul passes the legislature, the next five years could bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Iowa's school system, and hopefully a better education for students.
