Randy Evans

Evans: Another school problem is not being discussed

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When you have orbited the sun as many times as I have, people sometimes want to tap into the insights you have gathered through the years. Young journalists and newsroom managers ask about the lessons I accumulated from a half-century in the newspaper business. One lesson is quite simple, actually: Keep your eyes and ears open, and never hesitate to ask questions. The lesson came through loud and clear one afternoon in the 1980s when I was an editor on the Des Moines Register’s metro desk. The phones were constantly ringing.

Evans: Threats won’t end people’s virus anxieties

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Give an extra tug on your seatbelt. The next couple of months will be rough ones. The new school year starts in a few weeks. Not surprisingly, with the coronavirus still sickening and killing people in Iowa, what normally is a time of much excitement has become a time of great anxiety. Our president has said he expects students to be back in the classroom for in-person learning in every school in America. If schools do not comply, he has threatened to withhold their federal education aid.

Districts in Debt

When School Districts Can’t Raise Funds For Facilities

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Half of all states, including Kansas, pay less than 10 percent of school construction costs. Districts in those states are largely at the mercy of voters to finance new schools and major renovations. Low-wealth districts — particularly in rural areas — struggle to convince voters to do so.

school employee pensions

How Rising Teacher Pension Costs Hurt School Districts

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Colorado’s share-the-pain approach to pension reform is one that more states may turn to as they seek to prevent their pension funds from going bankrupt. Such changes could further depress teacher pay and crowd out money for school supplies and building repairs, but there are no simple alternative solutions in sight.

Education

Race to the Top Evens Playing Field, Challenges Teachers

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President Obama’s new Race to the Top achievement standards for education aim to even the playing field for students, but are causing challenges for teachers who must cover more material then they are used to. If Iowa plans on participating in the next round of Race to the Top they must move quickly to meet the state and national standards.