Local legislators say student scores are improving

This is the second in a two-part series about Saturday’s Legislative Coffee.

Improving scores and learning environments in Iowa schools are the focus of multiple bills brought up by state legislators Senator Tom Shipley and Representative Devon Wood during their first Legislative Coffee of the year in Creston. While some legislation is still in the works, the two said past bills have been proven successful.

“Our scores have made some very good improvements. From when to when, I can’t say, but I know that the scores are better,” Shipley said. “There’s going to be a lot of reasons why. Focusing on education and also getting [phones] out of their hands.”

Wood seconded this comment, referencing a recent encounter with area students.

“When the FFA kids came to visit, I actually had some of the students say thank you because we’ve already noticed a difference in how much better we’re able to focus,” Wood said. “How often does a kid thank you for taking away technology?”

She also mentioned a previous bill to raise paraprofessional pay as a reason why Iowa students’ scores may be improving.

“We heard teachers talking. When it comes to things like special education, when it comes to the number of helpers in the classroom to focus on kids that might need a little extra help with this or that, we need assistance. They said we need extra help, and we heard them,” Wood said. “Our current paraprofessionals are making basically minimum wage and we got to a point where we said, the state is going to fund X number of dollars, all the school has to do is submit the number of paraprofessionals that they have.”

However, a major topic of concern for educators is the annual increase in State Supplemental Aid, something yet to be passed. According to state code, SSA should be set by Feb. 11. While the governor suggested a 2% increase in her Condition of the State in January, the House and Senate have yet to agree.

“[The Senate] passed SSA to start the process. It’s not where I want it to be, but it’s got to get done quickly so we passed out of the Senate the other day to get the ball moving. For now, it’s in their court,” Shipley said. “They’re going to put their touches on it and send it back to us. We know, that’s just getting started. We’ve got to get this thing done as quickly as we can.”

While an agreement on SSA must be made soon, there are plenty of other education bills still in early discussions.

In the Senate, Shipley said they are looking to add the position of CTE instructor to the state’s operational sharing program, which allows multiple schools to share a paid position in order to bring more money to both districts. Creston is currently sharing four positions. Shipley is also passionate about a bill that ensures schools must accept cash to get into school events.

Wood said she’s actively working on a bill to ensure students in kindergarten through 12th grade receive artificial intelligence safety education.

“We thought it was really important to have some of those things in place. Folks need to know where they can go to get some information on how to be safe,” Wood said.

While she acknowledges many families are trying to decrease screen time in their young children, Wood said it’s also important students of all ages keep out of harm with technology.

“When I was a really little kid, and I’m sure almost everybody in here had a pretty similar experience, my parents taught me about stranger danger and folks that were safe people,” Wood said. “Now, we all know that some of our kids when we’re having that conversation were too young to probably understand the of concept of something like human trafficking, but we’re all trying to make sure that they have those safety mindsets to make sure they can protect themselves, even though they’re not ready to understand that definition means. I would say, in the world of technology and AI, I think we can use that same principle here and start reminding folks what’s safe.”

While education was a main topic of conversation, other subjects came up as well. When one constituent asked what’s being done to address the housing crisis, Shipley said neither he nor Wood knew specifics.

“I know that they’re looking at a lot of different ways to make it happen. There have been some changes made and some communities have struggled to implement those,” Shipley said. “I don’t specifically know. This doesn’t fall under my purview. I know this is a huge deal and every community is looking at these problems. Affordability, it really comes down to that.”

Both Shipley and Wood went over a number of bills they are working on in their various committees and boards. Highlights for Shipley included requesting replacement driver’s licenses online, criminalizing attempted creation of nonconsensual pornographic material, early steps to ban Kratom and harsher animal cruelty laws.

Wood touched on enforcing licensure for medical spas, water-use permitting, black market unlicensed drugs, boating light requirements, roadway hunting and mineral rights.

The two will be back in Creston Saturday, March 28 for a second Legislative Coffee session. Like the previous event, Shipley and Wood will meet in the Restored Depot at 8 a.m. to talk to constituents.