UNI Legislative Update
The Office of Governmental Relations provides legislative updates to the campus community through online communication and bimonthly campus presentations. These updates will inform faculty, staff and students of hot topics facing the legislature and legislative actions affecting UNI and the Regents institutions.
May 12, 2008
Culver signs $1 billion education bill in Bettendorf
By Ed Tibbetts and Dan Gearino | Friday, May 09, 2008
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signed into law a nearly $1 billion education funding package Friday in Bettendorf, setting aside money for higher teacher salaries, an expansion of early childhood initiatives and a new program to train math and science teachers.
With about 100 people in attendance at the Mississippi Bend Area Agency on Education, the governor heralded the bill for putting a record amount of money into education. It's about a 6 percent increase over the current year, according to the governor's office.
"We're covering, literally, pre-K to grad school," Culver said.
The bill funds the Regents institutions, community colleges, the state Department of Education and other programs. Funding for basic K-12 school aid has already been approved.
Community colleges got a $10.5 million increase in the bill to $184 million, which is even more than the governor proposed in his own budget plan.
Patricia Keir, the chancellor at Eastern Iowa Community College, said Friday the money will help with tuition rates, work force development and adult education programs. She added colleges were appreciative of money for faculty salaries, too.
"Most of our faculty are giving exams right now, but they wanted me to thank you,"Keir said.
She noted border areas such as the Quad-Cities need to be competitive. The bill adds $1.5 million for higher salaries.
The largest part of the package is $554 million in general aid to the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.
The new law also puts $75 million aside for teacher salaries, $15 million for expanding pre-school and $4 million for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Center at UNI.
State Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, pushed hard for the center, which will be located near his district. He said the new initiative will be good for K-12 schools across the state.
"It's pretty obvious that the 21st century jobs are requiring enhanced skill levels," he said. "Science, technology and math skills are important for the future."
The bill also includes another top Culver priority, the All-Iowa Opportunity Scholarship, which will help hundreds of low- and moderate-income Iowans attend college. The program will get $4 million, up from $1.5 million in the current year.
The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will get a $1 million increase, which was a top priority of Sen. Joe Seng, D-Davenport.
On hand for the budget signing were Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, and Sen. Frank Wood, D-Eldridge, who chair the appropriations subcommittees that oversee education spending in the House and Senate.
Wood said he was pleased with bringing up teacher salaries, but he called the steps modest.
"To me, we're just making moderate strides to get them up to average,"Wood said.
Iowa was ranked 42nd in teacher salaries in 2006, which the governor called "embarrassing."
The $75 million included in this bill is part of a larger package that's aimed at bringing teacher pay up to the national average.