State Education Director Glass Comments On Branstad’s Education Bill
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A top education aide to Gov. Terry Branstad says a major cost in the governor’s education plan is providing bonuses to experienced teachers who take on more
responsibilities.
Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass said Monday that it will cost the state $46 million to give stipends to senior teachers who take on tasks like mentoring.
Branstad’s education reform plan also raises minimum teacher salaries from $28,000 to $35,000. The Education Department estimates that would likely cost about $5.5 million.
Another $96 million would go to districts to be used for teacher expenses related to the proposal. The money would be allocated on a per-student basis, meaning the most funding would go to the Des
Moines Independent School District, the largest in the state.
Iowa Officials Rescinding Tax Forms
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State officials are resending tax forms to 15,000 Iowa Medicaid providers due to an error.
Officials with the Iowa Department of Administrative Services mailed 1099 tax forms last week with the wrong tax identification numbers. A letter mailed Friday says officials will send corrected versions to 15,000 Medicaid providers affected by the error.
An agency spokesman says the error happened during data sorting in the print-to-mail process. The newspaper reports officials weren’t available Monday to discuss the cost of fixing the error.
Two separate forms will be mailed to providers. The first form zeros out monetary values and the second form is the corrected version.
A 1099 is a tax form for an independent contractor that shows how much they made from a business.
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Lt. Governor Reynolds Says She May Consider Running For Senate
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds isn’t ruling out a possible Senate run in the wake of Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin’s retirement.
At a regular Monday news conference at the Capitol with Reynolds and Gov. Terry Branstad, Reynolds said she was going to keep her options open. She also said that her focus was on her work with Branstad in Iowa.
Harkin announced Saturday that he will not run for a sixth term in 2014. That decision creates a rare open Senate seat in the state.
Iowa is one of just four states to never elect a woman to Congress.