IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
For Release: April 18, 2008
Contact: Lana Oppenheim Schlapkohl, 515-471-8026, LOppenheim@isea.org

Statement by ISEA President Linda Nelson on HF 2645

This 2008 Iowa Legislature has approved HF 2645, a bill that updates and modernizes the collective bargaining law for teachers and other public employees. Gov. Culver is still considering whether to sign it into law.

Opponents of this bill are throwing around a lot of inflammatory rhetoric about how the changes will be harmful to public education. They've charged that the bill will turn control of the schools over to the union or make it impossible to terminate a teacher. Neither, of course, is true.

It's time for everyone to take a deep breath and consider for a moment how these changes might actually help improve education in Iowa.

Education research is discovering that in addition to low salaries, dissatisfaction with workplace conditions is the main reason why teachers seek other employment opportunities. Yet school districts pay little or no attention to critical working conditions for educators. Teachers aren't able to even discuss these issues at the bargaining table under the current law unless management agrees.

Over the past several years, Iowa has made significant strides toward improving teacher quality. Each of these changes has created a need to re-examine current teacher evaluation and dismissal practices. HF 2645 simply streamlines those procedures and will ultimately save school districts time and money - time and money that is better spent improving teaching and learning.

In short, HF 2645 makes reasonable changes in a law that has remained virtually unchanged for 34 years. It's long overdue. We urge Governor Culver to sign it into law.