Closing the books on Iowa education reform

Gov. Terry Branstad is expected to sign into law education reform measures passed by Iowa legislators at the tail end of this year's session, ending two years of discussion, debate, horse trading and compromise all with the flourish of a pen.

The bill before him will raise teachers' starting pay and give districts the option of creating distinct career tracks to guide them. It calls for new student assessments more closely aligned with state standards, something proponents say will give us a clearer picture of student performance, and a bump in per-pupil funding.

The hope is these tweaks will lead to dramatic improvements in teacher quality and, through that, student achievement.

But despite the superlatives his staff has been piling on in praise of the bill (Transformational! Comprehensive!), it's a partial victory for the governor, who started reform talks with a clean chalkboard and an ambitious take-it-or-leave it plan to reclaim Iowa's seat at the head of the class when it comes to public education.

Many of the bolder ideas from those early days have been relegated to study groups or the recycling bin.

Some, such as expanding competency-based learning opportunities, still might become a reality. Others, such as loosening tight restrictions on charter schools, were DOA.

The bill Branstad's poised to sign will create a council to study a new statewide system for evaluating teachers and administrators, although there's no guarantee that student test scores - one of the governor's most touted and most controversial proposals - will be part of the mix.

Many changes will take effect on July 1, the same day outgoing state education chief Jason Glass starts his new job as school superintendent back at his old stomping grounds in Eagle County, Colo.

Glass' initial enthusiasm and apparent penchant for trendy ideas generated considerable push back from people (present company, included) who already were tired of top-down impositions of brilliant ideas and wanted to hear a whole lot more from teachers in the trenches.

Glass and the governor modulated their approach, despite the advice of ideologues like Thomas Fordham Institute Executive Director Chester Finn, who warned that depending on consensus would lead to watered-down reform. Maybe that's why we ended up with a reform bill best described as “a good compromise.”

That's fine with me, because the transformation of our public school system never was going to come from the top. It always was going to come from the classrooms and media centers where teaching and learning happens.

Increase accountability, flexibility and support - that's the best we can do from Des Moines. The reform bill in Branstad's hand makes some good gestures in those directions.

When he signs it, it will close a chapter, but it's not the end of the school reform story.

The real work is ahead.

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