CONTRIBUTED PHOTO -Rep. Barker, along with fellow Rep. David Blom (R-Marshalltown), recently met with a group of Marshall County mayors to discuss a wide variety of issues at the Albion Municipal Library.

It was a busy week for me on the House floor. On Tuesday, I rose in support of SF75, which has been a long-time priority of rural Story County residents. The bill would require districts on the County Board of Supervisors to ensure that all portions of the county have a seat on the board. This was the first bill I filed and is also the first bill of my bills to make it to the Governor’s desk. This is an example of strong team work in the House and the Senate, including Senator Kara Warme who also spoke on behalf of the bill. I appreciate all the work that former State Rep. Dave Deyoe put into this legislation and am thankful that we were able to get the job done.

On Wednesday, a bi-partisan bill that I co-sponsored, HF886, would direct the DOT to prioritize improvements to US Highway 30. Highway 30 is a critical economic development corridor across our state from river to river. I’m thankful for the many years of persistent work from Representative Tom Determann on Clinton that allowed us to get this bill over to the Senate.

On Thursday, I was able to successfully floor manage my third bill, HF802, which passed unanimously. The bill allows Iowans with rare diseases to get access to individualized investigational treatments. I enjoyed the strong bipartisan work of my subcommittee of Reps. Bradley and Baeth to make this a better bill for Iowans.

• Education-Related Bills This Week

Tuesday was a big day for Education policy in the Iowa House. We passed a number of bills to protect and improve outcomes for students and provide some support for teachers. Here are a couple of highlights.

HF 782: No phones during instructional time – Requires school districts to implement a policy that, at a minimum, prohibits the use of cell phones during instructional time.

Schools can implement a more stringent policy, but this is the minimum standard. The policy must also contain exemptions for medical reasons students may need access to their phones and must outline methods for parents to communicate with students during emergencies.

We know the dangers of smart phones and social media. It’s time to protect our kids from the danger of their devices. This will ensure that the classroom remains a place where students can be free from the distraction of their phones and can focus on learning.

Iowa schools that have implemented policies restricting cell phone use on their own are already seeing results of better grades and lower suspensions.

HF 784: Improving Mathematics Instruction – Ensures children struggling in math are identified and receive the personalized help they need by requiring schools to assess students in math three times a year from Kindergarten to 6th grade. If a student is identified as persistently at risk in math, schools must implement personalized mathematics plans and interventions. It will also strengthen math instruction by equipping teachers with evidence-based professional development and high-quality teacher prep training.

Math proficiency is a big indicator of future successes both in the classroom and the workforce.

Iowa’s math scores, while above the national average, have been dropping in rankings since 2019. We’ve gone from 7th to 30th in fourth graders and 15th to 23rd for eighth graders. This bill aims to reverse this trend.

HF 787: Iowa Education Teacher Salaries Reform Bill – Provides some clean up language to ensure the proper implementation of year two of the teacher salary increase bill we passed last session. Last year we passed a bill to increase the minimum teacher salary from $33,500 to $50,000 and ensure 12-year teachers make no less than $62,000.

The bill also provides a number of other small policy changes at the request of local school districts. The biggest change is that it allows teachers who have retired to return to the classroom with a minimum salary of $50,000 while still collecting their IPERS.

HF 865: Clearing Up the Definition of Student Harassment and Bullying – Defines harassment and bullying as behavior that is repeated and targeted and creates an objectively hostile school environment. Bullying can take place in school for all kinds of reasons. This change emphasizes that the behavior is repeated and targeted, providing a clearer definition to ensure bullying is addressed consistently in schools.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to work hard on your behalf this session in Des Moines! Please reach out to me about any questions, concerns or suggestions at brett.barker@legis.iowa.gov.

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Brett Barker, a Republican from Nevada, represents District 51 in the Iowa House.