Republicans lock up money for teachers

Borrowing a line from Al Gore, Iowa Republicans say they’re putting 40-million dollars “in a lock box” to spend this coming year on their teacher pay plan. House Republican Leader Christopher Rants of Sioux City says lawmakers have not decided yet exactly how that money will be spent. House Speaker Brent Siegrist, a republican from Council Bluffs, says the announcement should settle any squabble about whether the G-O-P’s serious about spending the money. Siegrist expects legislators to spend up to two-hundred-million dollars in the next four years to raise teacher pay, set up mentors for rookie teachers and link pay to performance in the classroom.