By: Diana Johnsen
djohnsen@kcautv.com
During his "Condition of the State Address" on Tuesday, Governor Terry Branstad voiced his concerns about Iowa test scores.
The Governor said those scores are staying stagnant while other states are rising.
"When did we decide being 'Middle of the Pack' was good enough for Iowa's children's education?" said Branstad.
To help make a change, the Governor unveiled his plans on education reform.
First, to raise teacher's minimum starting salary from $28,000 to $35,000 a year, which is something Elementary Education Major at Morningside College, Mary Horton likes but is hesitant on.
"I don't want people to go into the profession because of the pay. Your heart has to be in it. Your heart has to be in for helping children," said Horton.
Right now in the state of Iowa, student teaching is a semester long. The Governor said he'd like to extend that to a full year.
But some local educators say that could be tough.
"When cooperating teachers are really feeling the pressures of the accountability measures and the testing, they're not really quick to say yes to turning their classrooms over to a student teacher for a full year," said LuAnn Haase, Morningside College Education Department Chair.
Sioux City East High School teacher, Jeff Washinowski said he's not opposed to the extended year.
"It isn't going to hurt them, as long as it's in conjunction where they might be doing some of the theory and they'd be able to actually practice the theory," said Washinowski.
The Governor also said he would like to reduce the work load on new teachers so they can spend more time learning from veteran teachers.
