Education
University of Iowa sued by its corporate partner in billion-dollar utility deal
Just three years into a 50-year, billion-dollar partnership with a utility company, the University of Iowa is being sued over an alleged failure to abide by the terms of the deal. The University of Iowa Energy Collaborative is suing the public university in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The UIEC […]
D.C. Dispatch: Iowa lawmakers focus attention on China, agriculture
Iowa’s congressional delegation focused much of its attention on China and agriculture this week, while Rep. Ashley Hinson helped introduce legislation that that expands Pell Grant eligibility. Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley introduced multiple bills, including several addressing pharmaceutical costs, foreign lobbying and child sex abuse. Grassley introduced the Preventing Child Sex Abuse Act with Sen. […]
Teachers would get $60K minimum salary under bill in Congress making grants to states
WASHINGTON – A panel of policymakers and educators, including author Dave Eggers and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to promote the American Teacher Act. The bill, if passed, would authorize the federal government to create four-year grants for states to enact and enforce minimum school teacher […]
What are teachers being taught? Bill calls for defining teaching terms
Republicans’ focus on education reform did not end with Gov. Kim Reynolds’ private school scholarship legislation: Lawmakers are now looking at how future educators at Iowa universities are learning to teach. Lawmakers in a House Education subcommittee moved Wednesday to advance House File 7, a bill requiring Iowa’s three public universities to submit reports to […]
Tenure ban doesn’t advance, but GOP ‘paying attention’ to campus free speech
Legislation banning tenure at Iowa’s public universities is unlikely to move forward, but a Republican lawmaker said he hopes the institutions know legislators are “paying attention” to problems like freedom of speech on Iowa college campuses. “I’m tired, and a lot of legislators are tired playing Whack-a-Mole with some of the issues that are going […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds celebrates victory as ‘school choice’ program becomes law
After years of debate and a decisive election with school choice at center stage, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed her private school scholarship program into law Tuesday. Students and staff of Iowa private schools gathered around the lectern in the Capitol rotunda as Reynolds and supporters celebrated passing the legislation, which cleared the Senate less than […]
Private school scholarship program heads to governor’s desk
Gov. Kim Reynolds made private school scholarships her top priority for the 2023 legislative session. That goal was reached Tuesday, when lawmakers sent the bill to her desk. Reynolds praised the House and Senate passing the bill, saying she planned to sign it later on Tuesday. “For the first time, we will fund students instead […]
The message from Gov. Reynolds and the GOP: Transparency is for suckers
Transparency is for suckers. That’s the message, loud and clear, from Gov. Kim Reynolds and her Republican enablers in the Legislature. I’d suspect that this was another, particularly idiotic manifestation of the trans-phobia that has infected Republican officeholders the past few years. But no, Reynolds and GOP lawmakers are insisting on “transparency” through various priority […]
A watchdog says the feds aren’t doing enough to investigate problem colleges
WASHINGTON — Incomplete written guidelines and penalties that had not been updated since 2016. Significant turnover and reductions among staff. Changing agency priorities and department probes put “on hold.” Over the past six years, these problems have stifled the U.S. Department of Education’s investigations team that is supposed to probe colleges that misrepresent themselves to […]
Here’s how the governor’s budget pays for private school scholarships
As Democrats argue Gov. Kim Reynolds’ private school scholarship program would take away funding from Iowa’s public schools, Republicans are pointing to the governor’s proposed budget as proof that support for Iowa’s K-12 system remains strong. Reynolds is proposing a budget of nearly $8.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, an increase over the current […]
Lawmakers debate the cost of private-school scholarships
Iowa lawmakers sparred Thursday over the cost of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ private school scholarship plan, which is on a fast track through the Statehouse. Democrats said the program would siphon hundreds of millions of dollars away from Iowa’s public schools. Republicans argued the plan gives public schools access to new money they would not otherwise […]
House and Senate committees advance governor’s private school scholarship bill
Committees in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature voted Wednesday to recommend passage of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ private school scholarship legislation, gearing up for floor debates on the governor’s top legislative priority within the first few weeks of the 2023 session. The Senate Education Committee approved the governor’s proposal establishing an education savings account (ESA) […]