Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — The governor’s government efficiency task force is considering 45 recommendations, including a plan to link the salaries for educators in Iowa’s public schools to student achievement. Former Fort Dodge Mayor Terry Lutz, a member of the task force, says a pay-for-performance system would reward what matters.
Fourteen years ago, Governor Terry Branstad proposed a merit pay system for teachers that would have used student test scores as one criterion for pay raises. Lutz says finally linking pay to student performance is about accountability.
Through a combination of federal, state, and local funding for public K-through-12 schools, spending per student is over 18 thousand dollars. Lutz says that is higher than the national median.
Lutz leads the “Return on Investment” working group within the government efficiency task force and they recommend the creation of online dashboards that compare important student achievements to dollars that are being spent.
The “Department of Government Efficiency” Task Force that Governor Reynolds appointed will release its final set of recommendations this fall. One of the proposals reviewed by the task force this past week calls for a comprehensive study of government employee pay and benefits.
The Iowa Public Employees Retirement System — known as IPERS — is a defined benefit based on an employee’s salary and how long they worked in government. Lutz says the state should shift to a pension system for future employees similar to 401Ks that’s based largely on contributions from the worker and how well investments perform. The governor’s task force is not calling for the consolidation of counties, but Lutz says they are recommending considerable sharing of services by state, county, and city governments.
He suggests that having the Iowa DOT take over maintenance of county roads might be more efficient.
