ISEA head forecasts good for FD
Newly elected president touring throughout IowaBy JESSE HELLING Messenger staff writer
A lot of good things are happening in the Fort Dodge Community School District.
That's according to Chris Bern, newly elected president of the Iowa State Education Association.
Bern toured the district Wednesday, part of an ongoing effort to visit school systems throughout the state to get a feel of what is going on therein, Bern said.
Promoting and supporting quality education is the ISEA's stated purpose. An affiliate of the National Education Association, more than 34,000 education employees in Iowa are members of the ISEA.
Approximately 62 percent of district teachers are members of the Fort Dodge Education Association, the local affiliate of the ISEA, said Doug Brightman, FDEA president and a fourth-grade teacher at Duncombe Elementary. The FDEA represents all teachers during annual contract negotiations.
As president of the ISEA, Bern works to advance identified priorities in the Iowa Statehouse.
According to Bern, said priorities have yet to be formally identified for the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January.
Among likely goals is ensuring that any cuts to education funding caused by the current economic recession are minimal or, ideally, nonexistent, Bern said.
"We want to, at least, maintain what we've received over the past two to three years," he said. "I truly believe the legislature has made education a priority."
The ISEA endorses candidates for state political office.
This year, 77 percent of ISEA-endorsed candidates won election to the Iowa House of Representatives and 72 percent of ISEA-endorsed candidates were elected to the state Senate, Bern said.
"We have a set policy for endorsing candidates," he said.
Office seekers must sit down for an interview at the local level with a panel consisting of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, Bern said.
A series of questions is used to ascertain the candidate's beliefs on education issues, he said.
Although most of the candidates endorsed are Democrats, Bern insisted that endorsements are not partisan.
Reaching out to Republican officeholders will be a priority for Bern during his tenure as ISEA president, he said.
"There are some Republicans who won't even talk to us," he said. "We want to work with anyone to make sure students have the best educational setting possible."
One effort on this score is a continued push to reform the No Child Left Behind Act. Passed in 2001, the law stipulates that all students must be proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. Proficiency is determined through standardized test scores - which, in Bern's opinion, do not always provide an accurate picture.
"Standardized tests are taken once a year," he said.
As such, any number of factors other than understanding of the material could contribute to a student's performance, Bern said.
"That's not really reliable," he said.
Alternate forms of assessment could help ensure that districts are making true progress toward proficiency, he said.
Bern, who teaches high school math in Knoxville, will serve a two-year term as ISEA president.
In the near future, the ISEA will begin a strategic planning initiative, Bern said.
"We're working to determine who we are and what it is people want us to be," he said.
Bern envisions the ISEA becoming more of a "professional organization" for educators.
The agency currently provides course work for teachers' continued professional development an initiative likely to expand in the years to come, Bern said.
"I don't think there is any question that there are changes that need to be made to education," he said. "We want to be a leader in that change."
Contact Jesse Helling at (515) 573-2141 or jhelling@messengernews.net
