Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/437906
December 2014/January 2015 isea.org • ISEA Communiqué 10 LEGISLATIVE GUIDE FROM THE FRONT NEED TO KNOW: Attendence Center Rankings Committee chairs differ on support for schools, state tests, will look for common ground: State Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, and state Rep. Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City, are the two most influential people in your life that you've probably never met. Quirmbach is the chair of the Senate Education Committee. Jorgensen is the chair of the House Education Committee. Nearly every bill that deals with what educators do - from professional standards to pay and everything in between – needs to get signed off by the education committees. Quirmbach and Jorgensen decide if a bill goes forward, gets changed or is never talked about again. Both took time from their schedules to share their priorities for the upcoming session with the Iowa State Education Association. Quirmbach, an associate professor of economics at Iowa State University, said equitable state support for schools is his top priority. He's looking at a 6 percent increase in supplemental aid from the state to school districts. "We all agree we want to be first in the country, how can we be first when our per- pupil spending is 37th out of 50?" he said. Jorgensen said that figure is too high for his House colleagues. He says the House will vote on a figure within the first 30 days of session, but he also wants to work on the state's foundation formula. The formula tells officials how to apply funding for certain expenses. "We all agree we want to be first in the country, how can we be first when our per-pupil spending is 37th out of 50?" -Herman Quirmbach Jorgensen, an administrator at Morningside College in Sioux City, said he wants to ease the burden on taxpayers in property-depressed areas of the state who end up paying higher property tax rates to cover the difference in per pupil funding the state doesn't cover. He also wants to change the transportation formula to help rural school districts who have a comparatively disproportionate amount of funding go toward running students to-and- from school. Gov. Terry Branstad took a statewide tour this year to drum up support for a third try at a new anti-bullying law. Branstad, through a spokesman, turned down the ISEA's interview request for this article. "I think we can all agree that we need better training for school personnel to recognize bullying. Last year we proposed a comprehensive training and put $1 million behind it. The House wanted a $25,000 webinar," Quirmbach said. "I'm not convinced a $25,000 webinar is sufficient." Jorgensen said he wants to review a state task force's recomendation to make Smarter Balanced the new statewide student assessment. "I know some people don't like the cost, but we're going to have to spend money on an assessment," Jorgensen said. "I want to look at what the (task force) options were and see why they chose Smarter Balanced." Quirmbach said he's looking for more financial support for after-school programs for low- income families and wants to revisit state funding for dyslexia services. Jorgensen said he's looking for an extension of the state's virtual school pilot program and says he expects some lawmakers will try to pull the Common Core out of the Iowa Core. "We'll head that off," Jorgensen said. THE ISSUE: The Iowa Department of Education will categorize all Iowa schools based on student proficiency and academic growth in a new report scheduled for a January release. It is part of larger report which will categorize the state's 1,300 attendance centers, or schools, based on nine criteria. "Our best hope is it will give us a data set to we can use to continue to improve," said Iowa Department of Education Director Brad Buck. "I know our schools already have the culture of continuous improvement. This is another measure to use." THE UPSHOT: The report is required as part of the 2013 Education Reform law. Another report which includes all nine categories is expected for release in fall 2015. Those categories include measures such as employee turnover, parent involvement and attendance rates. Your Iowa State Education Association has representatives on the task force which is continuing this work. THE NEED TO KNOW: The January report places attendance centers in one of six categories based on the two criteria. The department expects to post the report online and make it searchable. In addition to this background, here are some definitions you'll want to know if you're asked about your school's category. • Student Proficiency: Students will receive a rank of non-proficient, proficient or advanced in math, reading or science based on the Iowa Assessments. Buck said the assessment may change depending on what the Legislature adopts as its standard assessment. • Student Academic Growth: Individual Growth will be calculated based on a student's prior year National Standard Score and the growth needed to meet the college/career standard by grade 12. Keep in mind, some schools with high student proficiency scores may have low growth scores because there's not a lot of room for students to grow. Conversely, high growth scores may be indicative of low proficiency because there's a lot of room to make up.