Recent Articles

If anyone would have told me back in January that we would still be here on May 17, I would not have believed them! However, here we are and I thought I would bring you up to speed on what we have been doing.

Early Childhood Initiative Passes

House File 761, which establishes a Quality Rating System for childcare and creates tax incentives for both pre-school and childcare passed this week. The bill also establishes the statewide use of a Kindergarten readiness test. The bill outlines the DIBELS test as the recommended method; however there is some flexibility built in for districts who want to use an alternative test, as long as it is approved by the Iowa Department of Education.

By unanimous vote after a meeting Monday night (5/9), the Bettendorf Board of Education named Marty Lucas the new administrative head of the district, pending contract negotiations.

ìMarty brings 17 years of experience as a superintendent of Iowa schools,î said Barry Anderson, President, Bettendorf Board of Education.

ìI believe he will not only meet the high expectations of the Board and community, but will also help the Bettendorf Community School District continue its path of excellence for the students of this District.î

Lucas is the superintendent of schools for the Charles City School District, Charles Iowa. He comes to Bettendorf with experience as a high school principal, assistant principal and athletic director, as well as superintendent experience in Plainfield, Hudson and Charles City.

He has been superintendent for Charles City schools since 1994. Lucas has a bachelor of science in physical education/health from the University of Northern Iowa.

He also has a masters of science in educational administration and a Superintendent Licensure: Certificate of Advanced Studies from Iowa State University. Directors plan on Lucas assuming the new post effective July.

Current Bettendorf Community School District superintendent, John S Perdue, Ed.D will leave at the end of the school year to lead a district in the Chicago suburbs. Perdue, who has been the top administrator in Bettendorf for five years and a district employee for 30, will be the superintendent of the kindergarten through eighth-grade district in Glen Ellyn.

The second benchmark of the 2005 legislative session has arrived and lawmakers have been busy attending committee meetings and debating legislation in an effort to keep bills alive beyond the second ìfunnelî deadline.

In order for a bill to be eligible for debate after the second funnel, it must be approved by the chamber where it originated as well as a committee in the opposite chamber. That means Senate files are required to have passed the Senate and a House committee by now in order to stay alive for the rest of the session. The funnel deadline does not apply to tax, leadership or appropriations bills.

Senate committees have taken up fewer bills this year due to the 25-25 split where control is shared equally between Republicans and Democrats.

Yet despite the slow pace, progress still has been made on a number of measures. Legislation approved by the Senate this year includes bills to crack down on Iowaís meth labs, improve the college readiness of high school students, establish a quality child care rating system, shrink the size of the stateís deer population and deregulate Iowaís large telephone companies. Lawmakers are also developing legislation to toughen Iowaís sex offender laws and spur new job and business growth across the state.

In the coming weeks, budget negotiations will continue as we try to find agreement on appropriations bills for the 2006 fiscal year. The Senate has approved only one of the nine budget bills that lawmakers must pass before the 2005 session adjourns.

While lawmakers generally agree on many areas of the budget, there are significant differences over funding levels for state employee salaries, education and health and human services. Right now, Democrats and Republicans are about $200 million apart in their spending proposals. Senator Hatch and I are millions of dollars apart in Health and Human Services.

A critical element in the budget negotiations is whether lawmakers will approve an increase in the cigarette tax, or ìuser feeî as I refer to it. Any potential hike would bring more revenue into the state treasury and lawmakers who are supportive of the measure, as I am, have a number of ideas on how they would like to spend the money. I am still advocating the dollars to go into the Senior Living Trust Fund to be used only for Medicaid or long term care. Others do not want to raise taxes on Iowans to increase spending. Lawmakers will have to make some decisions on the issue before our budget work is complete- the sooner, the better.

As we enter the last few weeks of the 2005 legislative session, senators will consider legislation that has made it past the second funnel in addition to budget bills and economic growth measures. As we work towards these goals, senators are committed to developing good public policy that focuses on the priorities of Iowans. I do believe that we will be able to agree on helping our seniors, children, families and the disabled with the budget.