Audubon Community School Teacher Leadership Grant

This fall the Audubon Community School is submitting a grant application as part of the Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation System.  The TLC system was established by legislation with the overriding philosophy of improving student learning by improving the instruction they receive each day.

To put this philosophy into action the Teacher Leadership and Compensation System established the following goals:

•              Attract able and promising new teachers by offering competitive starting salaries and offering short-term and long-term professional development and leadership opportunities.
•       Retain effective teachers by providing enhanced career opportunities.
•             Promote collaboration by developing and supporting opportunities for teachers in their local schools and school districts statewide to learn from each other.
•       Reward professional growth and effective teaching by providing pathways for career opportunities that come with increased leadership responsibilities and involve increased compensation.
•       Improve student achievement by strengthening instruction.

A four-year process has been established to develop a statewide teacher leadership and compensation system.  In the 2013 – 2014 school year school districts were able to apply for a planning grant to either use one of two plans developed by an educational taskforce or to design a hybrid plan that, while meeting the requirements of the legislation, also takes into consideration local ideas.  All districts that were interested in applying for a grant are required to establish a planning team that included administrators, teachers, and parents/guardians of students.

The state legislature allocated $50 million for the first year of the grant and in the spring of 2014 thirty-nine school districts, representing approximately one-third of Iowa’s public school student enrollment, were awarded state grants to implement their TLC plans during the 2014 – 2015 school year. Another $50 million has been allocated for the 2015 – 2016 school year, with $50 million more being promised for the 2016 – 2017 school year. 

Audubon Community School is hoping to be selected as one of the grant recipients for the 2015 – 2016 school year and is actively working on their grant application. The committee is currently working on meeting the requirements of the grant by studying the Teacher Leadership roles that would best fit the needs of the Audubon School District as we work to improve instruction in all classrooms. The deadline for submitting an application for the 2015 – 2016 school year is October 31^st.   

Additional information concerning the Teacher Leadership and Compensation system can be found at: https://www.educateiowa.gov/teacher-leadership-and-compensation-system