Did Cedar Falls, Marion Town Hall Meetings Kill Branstad's Education Plan?

When Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said his education blueprint was a work-in-progress, he wasn't joking.

According to a Des Moines Register report, the Iowa Governor has set aside a critical and often criticized part of his plan: the teacher salary classes.

Previously, the plan laid out four categories for teachers: apprentice, career, mentor, or master teachers. Teachers would be encouraged to perform better by the prospect of moving up to a more prestigious level for pay raises and other benefits. Each school would only be allowed a specified amount in each class.

"We absolutely are not moving away from the principles that are behind that four-tier salary structure. But we also recognize that it’s a big change from a fiscal standpoint. We think this is a conversation we need to engage in when we’re at the beginning of a two-year budget cycle, so we have all the chips to play with." Jason Glass, director of the Iowa Department of Education, in the Des Moines Register story.

As pointed out in a previous , the plan was criticized for pitting teachers against each-other to get to these higher positions, as only 5 percent could be master teachers and 15 percent could be mentor teachers.

That criticism was launched by a guest columnist for the Des Moines Register more than a month ago. The reaction from everyday Iowans who attended his recent town hall meetings, including on Tuesday at Center in Marion and a particularly heated meeting in Cedar Falls later that day, may have helped Branstad to change his tune.

Alison Gowans, the local editor for Cedar Falls Patch, the scene.

After a question about how developing a culture of collaboration would work if teachers, working on collaborative teams, were supposed to be competing for pay raises, the governor said, “Competition makes us all stronger.”

“No, No!” many people in the crowd shouted.

“We’re competing against other teams,” the governor replied.

“No, we’re not!” crowd members yelled back.

“In sports, in business…” Branstad started, before being cut off by a shout of, “Education isn’t business!”

It is worth noting that, despite the setback, the competitive concept behind the controversy may not be abandoned.

"We haven’t figured out the structure, how it would be priced or how quickly it would be implemented, but I think we’re getting some consensus that creating teacher leadership roles is in Iowa’s future." Jason Glass.

How do you feel about the competitive part of the education blueprint?