Dive Summary:

• A report released by Iowa's Task Force on Teacher Leadership and Compensation has proposed $150 million in new spending along with 13 recommendations on how to use it and improve the public schools system.
• Among the recommendations, the Task Force has suggested bumping minimum starting teacher pay from $28,000 to $35,000 and increase the average salary for first-year teachers to anywhere between $40,000 and $45,000.
• The Task Force advised the Department of Education to create a five-tier teacher classification system in which duties and pay increase with each upgrade in classification.

From the article:

"... 'To reach the goals of what we’re trying to accomplish, it will take investment,' Department of Education Director Jason Glass said during a conference call with reporters following the release of the Task Force on Teacher Leadership and Compensation report. 'New dollars are necessary; we can’t just repurpose existing funds.'

The task force is one of several groups created by last year’s education reform bill to study specific topics in education, such as how long students should be in class, and report back to the General Assembly. The others are scheduled to be released at later dates. ..."