Republican legislators have assembled a task force to develop recommendations for changing the way Iowa teachers are paid. House Speaker Brent Siegrist, a republican from Council Bluffs, says it’s critically important to raise teacher salaries, and pay teachers in a new way. He says they don’t have an agreement yet on all the details.Siegrist, a former teacher and high school wrestling coach, says legislators need to find up to 200-million more dollars to plow into higher salaries for the top teachers.House Republican Leader Christopher Rants of Sioux City says the teacher pay system in Iowa must be “radically different.”Iowa’s top G-O-P lawmakers today endorsed the Iowa Business Forum on Education’s proposals for recruiting and retaining quality teachers. It calls for a graduated system of licensing for teachers, and linking pay to performance. Senate President Mary Kramer, a republican from West Des Moines, says no other state has made such significant changes.Kramer, who is a former teacher, will help lead the task force. Other members include Republican Represdentatives Danny Carroll of Grinnell, Cecil Dolecheck of Mount Ayr, Betty Grundberg of Des Moines, Brad Hansen of Carter Lake, Clarence Hoffman of Charter Oak and Steve Sukup of Dougherty. The following republican Senators are on the task force: John Redwine of Sioux City, Thurman Gaskill of Corwith, Don Redfern of Cedar Falls, Kitty Rehberg of Rowley and Nancy Boettger of Harlan.
