Iowans look to change teacher pay system

Iowa’s Governor, top education officials and the head of Iowa Wellmark/Blue Cross-Blue Shield are in California drafting plans for a new teacher pay system. Iowa Department of Education director Ted Stilwell says Iowa Wellmark C-E-O John Forsythe is heading the group.Officials from Iowa and seven other states were invited by the Miliken Family Foundation to a two-day “teacher quality” convention which ends today. Stilwell says the Iowa team met this morning and is meeting again this afternoon to fine-tune their ideas.Stilwell says it’s like developing an architect’s blueprint for a new system of training, recruiting and paying teachers.Stilwell says Forsythe, the Blue Cross executive, has spent hours on the project.Stilwell says the group hopes to release its preliminary recommendations bySeptember 1st. Four Iowa teachers were each given 25-thousand dollar awards from the Miliken Family Foundation for excellence in the classroom. The awards were given to Susan Keenan Gnagy of Elkader, Sue Lynn Blanck Pettit of Waterloo, Sara Pralle of Latimer and Dennis Wulf of Norwalk.