One of the major problems facing Iowa today is the dismal state of the public and private schools. Many of the schools are in need of money for new technology and other equipment, building repair, and proper staff, to name a few. The 79th general assembly of House of Representatives and Senate has taken great measures to solve this serious problem, brought on by the many years of neglected funds and budget cuts.
             Although both house and senate are only in the 3rd week, already $40 million dollars have been set aside to help teachers' wages. This was brought on by the numbers of teachers leaving Iowa for better paying jobs in neighboring states. Both chambers also are debating many other plans. Gene Maddox, Senator for the 38 district of Iowa, suggested the increase of teacher base pay. He also believes incentive plans to inspire teachers to improve their teaching, this improvement would be monitored by standardized tests.
             Another problem with education in Iowa isn't the quantity but the quality of teachers, which according to tests has gone down in past years. Maddox proposed a partnership between two new teachers for the first year. Speaker of the House, Brent Siegrist suggests that the problem is the education of teachers, he suggests a 4 year mentoring ramp into a classroom instead of the 6 week requirement that is required now. He also wanted to require that teachers go to career labs, so they can have the most up to date information possible. He also suggests that teacher pay should be based on student performance rather than a set salary, the comparison for students would go from building to building.
             One the issue of lack of money, Dwayne Alons, House Representative of the 5th District, proposes the federal mandates for schools be eliminated. He also says that the government should encourage private businesses and organizations contributions to schools for technology advances and repair. He also believes w
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