Republicans tout their teacher pay plan

Republican legislative leaders meet with Governor Tom Vilsack next week to talk about improving teacher pay. House G-O-P Leader Christopher Rants of Sioux City says it’s all about getting the “best and brightest” teachers in Iowa classrooms.Republicans are backing one plan and Governor Vilsack, who’s a democrat, is backing another with a slightly different way of reaching the goal of raising teacher salaries. Rants says teachers should be allowed to demonstrate their abilities by taking professional board exams. Rants says the money to raise teacher pay is not at hand.Rants says it’ll probably cost at least 200-million dollars to raise teacher salaries across the state. Republicans staged a news conference in Des Moines yesterday to talk about their “education blueprint” for the state, but House Speaker Brent Siegrist of Council Bluffs admitted their proposals were quote — “nothing new.”