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COMMUNIQUÉ A PUBLICATION OF THE IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION – DEC 2014/JAN 2015 – Vol. 52, No. 3 IN THIS ISSUE: OPINION "Be Powerful" by ISEA President Tammy Wawro LEGISLATURE The two most influential people you don't know MEMBERS AT WORK Going the extra mile 3 10 12 Set it... Set it... and forget it! and forget it! E-DUES AVAILABLE NOW! E-DUES AVAILABLE NOW! New testing mandates, money for schools and a third run at an anti-bullying law are just a few of the education issues lawmakers expect to take up when they return to Des Moines on January 12. Voters overwhelmingly returned Republican Gov. Terry Branstad to office for an unprecedented sixth term in November. Voters also gave Branstad a split Legislature to work with. Democrats hold a 26-24 majority in the Iowa Senate and Republicans hold a 57-43 majority in the Iowa House. The partisan divide makes compromise necessary if lawmakers want to get anything done. The governor and legislative leaders have already outlined some of their priorities for the upcoming session. Branstad says he's open to a fuel tax proposal and both House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said they would consider income tax reform proposals. On the education front, lawmakers have promised to set Supplemental State Aid for schools within the first 30 days. They're also going to consider adoption of the Smarter Balanced test assessments, changing the formula that covers school transportation and state support for public schools. Your Iowa State Education Association will work with pro-public education lawmakers to promote legislation which supports students, schools and educators and stop legislation that weakens public education. Still, some of the best advocacy comes from members working directly with their local legislators. Your Iowa State Education Association can provide you with the tools you need to become a powerful advocate for your students, your schools and your profession. SEE OUR LEGISLATIVE GUIDE ON PAGES 8, 9, 10 and 11 Lawmakers talk tests, bullying and money for Statehouse return Continued on page 6 Continued on page 6 FOLLOW US ON: Teacher of the Year Clemencia Spizzirri keeps a poster of Albert Einstein in her Merrill Middle School classroom. The 38-year-old Spanish teacher feels a kinship with the great German physicist. Not because of ancestry or academic interest, but because of something Einstein said. It speaks to their common experience. "A bundle of belongings is not the only thing a refugee brings to his new country." That sentiment inspires her and connects them. Einstein the German refugee. Spizzirri the Ecuadorian immigrant. Spizzirri, an Iowa State Education Association member from Des Moines, was named the 2015 Iowa Teacher of the Year during an event in the Merrill Middle School gymnasium. As Iowa Teacher of the Year, Spizzirri becomes Excellence in Education: Karlys Gries It's Thursday morning in Sioux City and the students in Karyls Gries's fifth-grade class at Whittier Elementary have just finished their morning Pledge of Allegiance. In a few moments, Gries will pull down the projection screen in her 101-year-old classroom and her students will dive into a lesson on decimals. But now, in the short amount of time between the end of the morning routine and the start of the first lesson, she and her students will talk. She tells the class she was honored to go to Boy Scout Pack Night with their classmate, Gabe, and pin three pins on his shirt last night. Then, Gabe, a brown- haired boy with a bashful smile, tells his classmates about Scouting pins and what they mean. Excellence in Education winners stand with Iowa State Education Association President Tammy Wawro at the Excellence in Education banquet in Des Moines. Pictured (left to right) Beaver Creek Elementary Teacher Jennifer Emblen, Wawro, Whittier Elementary Teacher Karlys Gries, Monona Elementary Teacher Kurt Gaylor and South Tama High School Teacher Terri Guenther-Mayer.