08 Aug 2012

TCM Event Series Featuring Hitchcock's "The Birds" From Universal Pictures Flies into Cinemas this Fall

By Rick Martin
NCM® Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) are presenting a special event series featuring four newly restored titles commemorating Universal Pictures' 100th anniversary.  The series begins with Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds on Wednesday, September 19; and continues with a double feature of Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein on Wednesday, October 24; followed by a special 50th Anniversary edition of To Kill a Mockingbird on Thursday, November 15.  Each event will begin at 7:00 p.m. local time, with special matinees in select theaters at 2:00 p.m. The series will feature newly restored versions of the films created by Universal in celebration of its 100th Anniversary, and will also include a specially-produced TCM introduction by film historian, author and TCM host Robert Osborne, who will take audiences behind the scenes for each of these American classics with unique insights into their making.
Tickets for these special film events in the Turner Classic Movies series are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com.
The Turner Classic Movies Series will be playing at the following movie theaters in your area on September 19, October 24 and November 15.  Theater locations are subject to change; for updated information, please check your local listings closer to the event date.

Davenport 53 18 with IMAX 3601 E 53rd St Davenport IA 52807
08 Aug 2012

Frank's officially searching for Iowa faces in national Sauerkraut label campaign

By Rick Martin

Fremont, OH August 7, 2012: "We're looking for Iowa faces for our labels and kicking it off at the Lisbon Sauerkraut Days (August 9-11), then following it up at the Blairstown Sauerkraut Days (September 4-6) ," proclaims Katie Smith of the Fremont Company, makers of Frank's Sauerkraut, suppliers of all the sauerkraut for the event. Katie will be joining fellow sauerkraut lovers this weekend during the annual Lisbon Sauerkraut Days, a celebration of all things Kraut: August 9-11, Lisbon, IA. http://sauerkrautdays.com. She'll be at the Blairstown Festival over Labor Day weekend http://www.facebook.com/btownkrautdays.

The Fremont Company has been actively searching for faces of sauerkraut lovers who are making life sweet with Frank's to put on their labels. The national program has placed photos of individuals, families and groups from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota on sauerkraut labels; and now the search has come to Iowa.

The annual event features carnival rides, a 5K kraut run/walk, silent auction, cabbage head car show, slow pitch softball tournament, bathtub races, parade, plenty of music and food and the big event: the crowning of the sauerkraut king and queen.

Iowans can submit their photos for Frank's Search for Sweetness label program now, through the Frank's Facebook page or www.myfrankskraut.com.

You don't have to attend the Lisbon Sauerkraut Days to submit your photo! Frank's is encouraging Iowans to demonstrate how they "make life sweet" using Frank's Traditional and Sweet Sauerkraut. Frank's is interested in favorite sauerkraut recipes, stories, and anecdotes; photos should illustrate how individuals, families or groups actually utilize Frank's products. It's easy to submit: just send a photo of yourself, family or group using Frank's Sauerkraut to www.myfrankskraut.com.

About The Fremont Company
The Fremont Company is a 107-year-old consumer food products company, headquartered in Fremont, OH. The Fremont Company manufactures, markets and distributes food products to customers worldwide: Frank's and SnowFloss Sauerkraut and Mississippi BBQ Sauce. http://www.fremontcompany.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FranksKraut

08 Aug 2012

Loebsack to Tour Drought Stricken County

By Joe Hand

Will see firsthand affects of recent drought

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack will tour a Muscatine County farm TOMORROW, August 9th to see firsthand the affects of the recent drought.  He will be joined by local FSA officials and meet with farmers, community members and representatives from Farm Bureau.  Loebsack has been leading the fight in Congress to ensure Iowa's farmers have the resources they need to deal with the impact of the drought.  Media is invited to attend.  Details are below.

Tour of Drought Stricken Farm

Larry and Pam Schnittjer's Farm

1021 West Highway 6

West Liberty

11:30am

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08 Aug 2012

The Brucemore Garden and Art Show

By Tara Richards

The annual Brucemore Garden and Art Show will return Saturday, August 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. amidst the historic charm of the Brucemore gardens and landscape. More than 60 artists and garden vendors from across the Midwest will share their expertise by showcasing unique products, vivid presentations, and pertinent information, including ceramics, plantings, jewelry, sculpture, glass, textiles, and more. New in 2012, The Glass Art Centre will be onsite conducting hot glass blowing demonstrations?gathering glass at 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit on the end of a blowpipe and making drinking vessels, vases, sculpture, and more.

Educational opportunities will captivate attendees, whether it's engaging in a one-on-one conversation, participating in an interactive display, or listening to a featured lecture. The Linn County Master Gardeners, Ceramics Center, Eastern Iowa Storm Water Education Program, and Trees Forever will lead relevant presentations on the festival's main stage along with author Kelly Norris's discussion on dividing and planting irises.  The Linn County Master Gardeners will showcase several displays and demonstrations in the Formal Garden, including raised-bed garden creation, insect identification, and heirloom vegetable care. Plant vendors and horticultural organizations will share unusual and standard specimens; and artists will eagerly discuss their original pieces of work. Featured vendors include In The Country Gardens & Gifts of Independence, providing fairy gardens, garden art, succulents, and birdhouses; and fine art paintings by Solon's Susan Kennicott of Kennicott Fine Art.

The 2012 show will continue its rich tradition of incorporating hands-on activities for families.  Children can decorate flower pots with mosaic pieces, fire raku, and participate in a clay activity with the Ceramics Center. For the third year, the special section "Chew on This" will highlight organic and locally grown food with interactive displays, heirloom tomato tasting, frozen custard tasting, old fashion lawn games, watermelon seed spitting contests, an insect petting zoo, and more. Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency will provide free compost to all interested attendees.

Tickets are sold at the gate the day of the event or online at www.brucemore.org.  Admission is $6.00 per person. Children 10 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Parking is off-site. Shuttle service is available from Washington High School throughout the day. Handicap parking is available on-site by entering the First Avenue gate only. No pets, coolers, outside food, or weapons allowed during the event. Food and beverage vendors will be available on-site. The Brucemore Garden and Art Show is sponsored by Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency, Green Endeavors, and Penford Products.  For further information on the Brucemore Garden and Art Show, please call (319) 362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org.

Experience Brucemore, an unparalleled blend of tradition and culture, located at 2160 Linden Drive SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At the heart of the historic 26-acre estate stands a nineteenth-century mansion filled with the stories of three Cedar Rapids families.  Concerts, theater, programs, and tours enliven the site and celebrate the heritage of a community.  For more information, call (319) 362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org.

Brucemore_GA_2008.jpg

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08 Aug 2012

Cheating scandals make a mockery of school reform efforts

By Steve Gunn
Public school employees who falsify student data are making a mockery of reform efforts
By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Across the nation, lawmakers and school boards are demanding better results from public education.

They want to set the bar higher for American students by adopting a tough new set of national standards and demanding passing grades and solid attendance. They want to set the bar higher for teachers and administrators by demanding more accountability for student learning.
They've tried to put some teeth in these new policies by adopting penalties for those who do not meet standards. Failing teachers can now lose tenure protection in many states. Schools and programs that don't meet benchmarks can lose government funding or risk state takeovers.

All of this is necessary to get America's education system back on the track of excellence.

The problem is that lawmakers and policymakers have limited reach. They can establish laws and standards, but it's up to local educators to implement them, and often measure their own degree of success in meeting them.

But sometimes those educators cheat to get themselves or their schools off the hook, or to maintain a steady flow of state dollars. It's a breach of faith on the part of school employees that cannot be tolerated, and must be met with harsh and decisive disciplinary action.
Cheating accusations spreading across Ohio
The latest controversy comes from several school districts in Ohio, where officials have been accused of "scrubbing" student academic scores and attendance records to avoid penalties.
In the Columbus school district, officials are accused of withdrawing many sub-par students that are still enrolled, then re-enrolling them on the district roster. That allows them to "break a student's streak of continuous enrollment," according a story published by Cincinnati.com.

Why would they do this? Only the test-scores of students who've been enrolled without interruption are counted in the school's overall state testing data.

Tina Abdella, former internal auditor for the Columbus district, told the media that she tried to investigate anonymous tips about scrubbed attendance records, but was diverted by the superintendent and later fired by the school board.

In the Lockland, Ohio school district, officials have been accused of falsely eliminating 36 low-scoring students from its rolls in an effort to improve its state report card. An email from Superintendent Donna Hubbard appears to suggest that school officials actively "scrubbed" state testing data.

"Have we done everything we can do on the scrubbing?" according to an email, attributed to Hubbard, which was recently published by the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We are just 2.3 P.I. index points away from receiving an effective report card for the district ... If you can contact someone to find out how to recode these students so that their scores won't count against us, we may be able to pull this off."

Reports of similar activities have been reported in the Toledo school district. 

Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost is investigating the allegations in Columbus, Lockland and Toledo, and has expanded the probe to include all school districts in the state. He believes "it's likely" more school districts have been cheating in similar ways.

This story could turn much uglier very soon.
Scandals here, there and everywhere
The national focus on school employees cheating to avoid increased accountability goes back to last year's Atlanta scandal.

A total of 110 teachers in 44 Atlanta schools were accused of helping students cheat on standardized tests. All have been on administrative leave with pay, costing the district about $1 million a month in compensation for teachers who aren't teaching.
As far as we can tell, 11 of the teachers have been targeted for termination, one was actually fired and four more resigned. The district superintendent recently raised eyebrows by calling back 12 of the accused teachers to work, based on "insufficient evidence" against them.

In El Paso, Texas, Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia was fired earlier this year, and pleaded guilty to several counts of criminal charges, for "scheming with six district employees to game the federal accountability system by forcing some students to drop out of school, keeping other students from enrolling, stripping some foreign students of their credits and sending false data back to state and federal education agencies," according to the El Paso Times.

The idea was to artificially inflate the district's standardized test scores -- and the flow of government money that's tied to those results, according to media reports. Four former building principals from the district have since complained they were fired after refusing orders to participate in the cheating.

In Oklahoma City, a teacher at a district high school recently told EAGnews.org that he and others were instructed by a principal to falsify enrollment and attendance records so they appeared to satisfy federal grant requirements.

Ironically, the Oklahoma City district had already been investigating similar accusations at a different high school.
A nationwide epidemic?
To top it all off, reporters from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which broke the cheating scandal in that city, have indicated that suspicious test scores from roughly 200 school districts across the nation resembled the false scores recorded in Atlanta.

As the newspaper noted, the analysis of scores from other districts is not direct evidence of cheating. "But it reveals that test scores in hundreds of cities followed a pattern that, in Atlanta, indicated cheating in multiple schools," the Journal Constitution wrote.

In nine of those districts, scores varied so unpredictably that the odds of the shifts occurring without some form of intervention (or cheating) were worse than one in 10 billion, according to the Journal Constitution.

In 196 of the nation's 3,125 largest school districts, there were enough suspect tests to make the odds of the scores happening by chance more than one in 1,000, the newspaper said. 

"In Houston, for instance, test results for entire grades of students jumped two, three or more times the amount expected in one year," the newspaper reported. "When children moved to a new grade the next year, their scores plummeted - a finding that suggested the gains were not due to learning."

At the Patrick Henry Downtown Academy in St. Louis, about 42 percent of fourth-graders passed the state math test in 2010. The following year, as state investigators prowled the halls looking into allegations of cheating, only four percent of the same students passed the state math test.

As the Journal Constitution put it, "Experts say student learning doesn't typically jump backwards."
Cheating can never be excused
In several districts where cheating scandals have erupted, teachers, administrators and their apologists have suggested that higher student achievement standards and the focus on high-stakes standardized testing has driven otherwise honest school employees to cheating.

Damany Lewis, the first teacher fired as part of the Atlanta scandal, said the following to the special commission that determined his fate:

"We were told failure was not an option. Teaching and learning was the primary focus of the teachers. Results were the primary focus of this district and our administration."

So the goal should have been to prepare the students to provide the best test results possible, instead of cheating on test scores to make the results look better than they were. Cheating is never an excuse.

What sort of message does this send to students? Instead of setting an example of good citizenship by living under existing rules while trying to change them, teachers simply cheated to get around the rules.

Some students in Atlanta and other districts were probably aware of this wink-and-nod system before it was exposed, and certainly knew about it afterward. Too many of them likely came away with the idea that cheating is okay in an unfair world, particularly since teachers do it.

The Journal-Constitution also noted that test scores help schools identify problem areas for individual students. "Falsified test results deny struggling students access to extra help to which they are entitled," the newspaper said.

The crucial goal of increased accountability in education is to find out if schools are getting the job done for their students, and demanding improvements if they are not. We owe that much to the taxpayers who fund the schools and the students who are depending on a quality education to prepare for the life ahead of them.

Those who lie and cheat to save their own skins are making a mockery of school reform efforts. A student with an artificially enlarged test score is not being properly served.

The only people served are the teachers and administrators who have something to gain by turning in false data. They should be tossed out on their butts as an example to others who may be tempted to doctor the documents just a bit.
08 Aug 2012

Talk About SpaceSuits Offered at the Figge

By Susan Horan

Davenport, Iowa (August 2012) The Figge Art Museum will present the talk "The History of the Space Suit" at 7pm on Thursday, August 9.  The talk, presented by Dr. Cathleen S. Lewis, will utilize a slide presentation to take participants on a historical tour through the National Air and Space Museum's spacesuit collection. During the art talk guests will learn why space suits were developed, how and by whom and what the elusive standard of creating a form-fitting spacecraft that allows a human to do most anything that he or she can do on Earth really means.  This talk is offered in conjunction with the current exhibition "NASA | ART 50 Years of Exploration" and is sponsored by KWQC-TV6.

Dr. Lewis is Curator of International Space Programs and Spacesuits at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, specializing in Soviet and Russian programs.  Lewis has completed both bachelor's and a master's degrees in Russian and East European Studies at Yale University and completed her dissertation for her PhD in History, "The Red Stuff: A History of the Public and Material Culture of Early Human Spaceflight in the USSR, 1959-1968," at George Washington University in 2008.

Her current research is on the history of the public and popular culture of Russian fascination with the idea of human spaceflight in the Soviet Union.  She has written about the artifacts in the Smithsonian's Soviet and Russian collection and has published articles comparing the Soviet and American approaches to exhibiting spaceflight during the Space Race and the history of film portrayals of spaceflight prior to Yuri Gagarin's historic flight.  She is also working on a comparative history of the development of American and Russian spacesuits.

NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration presents an unparalleled selection of works commissioned by the NASA Art Program. Ranging from the illustrative to the abstract, more than 70 diverse artworks highlight the accomplishments, setbacks, and sheer excitement of space exploration over the past five decades.

NASA | ART 50 Years of Exploration was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in cooperation with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  The exhibition is sponsored locally by ALCOA, John Deere and Cobham, plc. The Smithsonian Community Grant program, funded by MetLife Foundation, is a proud sponsor of this public program.

-END-
08 Aug 2012

AARP Iowa Comment on New National AARP Survey of Voters 50+

By Ann Black

AARP SURVEY: NEW "ANXIETY INDEX" REVEALS ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING, DRIVING VOTERS 50+ IN 2012 ELECTIONS

Across party lines, voters want more information candidates' plans to strengthen Social Security and Medicare.

WASHINGTON - In the coming November elections, a key group of voters - non-retired baby boomers ages 50-64 - are driven by economic anxieties that extend well beyond the single issue of jobs, according to the results of a new series of surveys by AARP.  All voters age 50+ want the candidates to better explain their plans for Social Security and Medicare, which will help them determine their votes.

50+ Voters' Financial Outlook: Dissatisfied and Anxious

The particular pressures facing boomer voters - across party lines - are reflected in a new "Anxiety Index," which measures their worries on issues including prices rising faster than incomes (75% worry somewhat or very often about this), health expenses (62%), not having financial security in retirement (73%) and paying too much in taxes (71%).  By comparison, 32% of these boomer voters regularly worry about being able to find a full-time job with benefits or keep up with their mortgage or rent (30%), issues that are more widely discussed as leading economic issues for voters in the coming election.

"We know the issue of jobs is very important to voters age 50-plus, but any meaningful discussion of the economy and this year's election has to include the future of Social Security and Medicare," said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President.  "For these voters, 'retirement security' and 'economic security' are largely the same thing."

Non-retired boomer voters are pessimistic about retirement.  Almost three-in-four (72%) believe they will have to delay retirement, and almost two-in-three (65%) worry they won't have enough to retire.  Half of these voters (50%) don't think they'll ever be able to retire. They overwhelmingly (59%) believe the recent economic downturn will force them to rely more on Social Security and Medicare.

Anxiety about retirement security is a main driver for all voters 50+.  Nearly seven-in-ten (69%) of retired voters 50+ worry about prices rising faster than their incomes, and almost half (48%) worry about having unaffordable health expenses, despite the relative security provided by Medicare.  Only four-in-ten (42%) African-American voters 50+ are confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement.  Hispanic voters 50+ overwhelmingly say that the recent economic downturn negatively impacted their personal circumstances (84%) and will force them to rely more on Social Security and Medicare (69%).

50+ Voters and the 2012 Elections

Economic anxieties among voters 50+ are leading to a general dissatisfaction with political leaders.  Voters 50+ are as likely to say that their personal economic circumstances were negatively affected by political gridlock in Washington (78%) as by the economic downturn (77%).  Almost half (49%) of these voters disapprove of President Obama's job performance, and more than eight-in-ten (81%) disapprove of Congress.  As of now, voters 50+ evenly are split in their presidential vote preference (45% for President Obama, 45% for Governor Romney, and 10% not sure).

The concerns of 50+ voters highlight the importance of Social Security and Medicare as election issues.  They think the next president and Congress need to strengthen Social Security (91%) and Medicare (88%).  They also overwhelmingly (91%) think that these issues are too big for either party to fix alone and require Republicans and Democrats to come together.

Voters 50+ are looking to the candidates for more information on these key issues.  These voters overwhelmingly think the candidates have not done a good job of explaining their plans on Social Security (67%) and Medicare (63%).  Moving forward, these voters - across party lines - say that getting more information on the candidates' plans on Social Security (72%) and Medicare (70%) will help them determine their vote on election day.

"The message from voters 50+ is clear," added LeaMond.  "In a razor-tight election, candidates have a major opportunity to reach key voters by speaking about their plans on Social Security and Medicare - and they are making a huge gamble if they ignore them."

Earlier this year, AARP launched You've Earned a Say, a national conversation to ensure that Americans have a say in the future of Social Security and Medicare.  Through You've Earned a Say, AARP is taking the discussion about the future of Medicare and Social Security out from behind closed doors in Washington.  To date, more than 2.1 million Americans have engaged with You've Earned a Say to share their thoughts about how best to protect and strengthen health and retirement security for today's seniors and future generations.

For more information, please visit www.earnedasay.org.  For complete results of AARP voter surveys, please visit www.aarp.org/voters50plus.

Methodology

AARP commissioned Hart Research Associates and GS Strategy Group to conduct a series of surveys of registered voters ages 18+, which were conducted by telephone July 10-16, 2012.  For the national survey, blinded telephone interviews were conducted with 1,852 registered voters (core sample of 1,001, plus oversamples of voters 50+, African American voters 50+ and Hispanic voters 50+).  The margin of error for the primary national sample of 1,001 is ±3.1%, for the sample of 536 non-retired baby boomers it is ±4.2%, and for the sample of 1,331 voters age 50 and over the margin of error is ±2.7%.  Additional oversample surveys were conducted in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.

About AARP

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of more than 37 million, that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for Americans 50+ and the world's largest-circulation magazine; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for the 50+ audience; AARP VIVA, a bilingual lifestyle multimedia platform addressing the interests and needs of Hispanic Americans; and national television and radio programming including My Generation and Inside E Street. The AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Learn more at www.aarp.org.
08 Aug 2012

Traffic Safety Coalition Supports National Stop on Red Week with Launch of Iowa Chapter

By Lauren Whalley

Traffic Safety Coalition's Iowa Chapter will educate drivers on benefit of traffic safety cameras

CHICAGO - The Traffic Safety Coalition (TSC) is marking National Stop on Red Week by launching a new chapter and education campaign in Iowa.  The TSC, a national not-for-profit grassroots organization, works to improve road safety across the country by working with concerned citizens, traffic safety experts, law enforcement, public officials, victim's advocates and health care professionals who are committed to making our roads safer for drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians alike.

"No family should ever have to endure the loss of a loved one because someone illegally ran a red light.  This week is a reminder to all drivers about the importance of obeying our most basic traffic safety law: Red means stop," said Traffic Safety Coalition Co-Chair Paul Oberhauser, whose daughter Sarah was tragically killed in 2002 when a driver ran a red light and crashed into her car.

TSC works with its partners, including the Bicyclists of Iowa City, to release traffic safety data and share the proven benefits of safety cameras with members of the driving public and media as well as elected officials.

"Red light running puts all road users - drivers, pedestrians and cyclists - at risk.  Bicyclists of Iowa City supports technologies, such as traffic safety cameras, which help enforce positive and safe behavior at red lights," said Nate Van der Weide, President of Bicyclists of Iowa City.

Communities across the state are using traffic safety cameras as an important law enforcement tool to save lives and to reduce red light running and avoidable crashes and injuries.  Statistics show safety cameras are working in Iowa communities, including:

  • Davenport: 33% reduction in rear-end crashes and 40% reduction in red light running crashes (Midwest Transportation Consortium, 11/11)
  • Council Bluffs: 40% reduction in overall crashes and 90% drop in red light running crashes (Center for Transportation Research & Education, 12/07)
  • Cedar Rapids: 40% drop in motor vehicle crashes at the eight intersections with red-light cameras in the first year (Editorial, The Gazette, 8/9/11)

The TSC works with more than 100 partners across the country, including National Alliance for Biking and Walking, National Safety Council, and Ride of Silence, as well as local chapters of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Safe Kids USA and other local community organizations across the country.

If you wish to learn more about the TSC or are interested in joining the Coalition's efforts, visit www.TrafficSafetyCoalition.com.

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About the Traffic Safety Coalition:

The Traffic Safety Coalition is a not-for-profit grassroots organization comprised of concerned citizens, traffic safety experts, law enforcement, public officials, victim's advocates, health care professionals, and industry leaders who are committed to working together to make our roads safer for drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians.  We work with our partners throughout the country to promote technology and education that save lives and keep our roads safe.

The Traffic Safety Coalition received the 2011 Peter K. O'Rourke Special Achievement Award from the Governors Highway Safety Association for outstanding achievements in highway safety.

For more information about traffic safety issues, visit www.trafficsafetycoalition.com or connect with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/trafficsafetycoalition and Twitter: www.twitter.com/TrafficSafetyCn
08 Aug 2012

Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds release statements on additional disaster designations

By Office of Governor Terry Branstad

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, today, issued statements on the USDA disaster designation of four additional Iowa counties as primary natural disaster areas and six counties listed as contiguous disaster counties due to the drought.

On July 16, Gov. Branstad sent a letter to Sec. Vilsack requesting a drought disaster declaration for impacted Iowa counties. The letter to Sec. Vilsack can be viewed here. As a result, 42 Iowa counties were designated as disastrous on Aug. 1.

Gov. Branstad released the following statement:

"Today's disaster designation of 10 additional Iowa counties demonstrates the impact that the drought has made on Iowa's agricultural industry. The Lt. Governor and I would like to extend our gratitude towards Sec. Vilsack in recognizing the needs of these additional counties. This disaster designation will provide affected Iowans with additional resources during these difficult times."

Lt. Gov. Reynolds released the following statement:

"The governor and I know that farmers can and will overcome the current drought conditions, and we will continue to work with federal and state partners to provide necessary resources for Iowans."

08 Aug 2012

Governor Quinn Signs New Laws to Make Schoolchildren Safer and Healthier

By Leslie Wertheimer
CHICAGO - August 8, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today signed three new laws designed to make Illinois schoolchildren healthier and safer through immunizations, anti-bullying measures and alternative education programs. Today's action at Pershing West Magnet School is the latest by Governor Quinn to further strengthen education in Illinois.

"We are working every day to strengthen education in Illinois," Governor Quinn said. "As millions of students prepare to go back to school later this month, these new laws will put vital public health data in the hands of parents, protect our children from bullying and improve their health."

House Bill 5013, sponsored by Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) and Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago) is designed to boost vaccination rates. The new law requires public and registered nonpublic schools to make immunization and health exam statistics publicly available. While such data is now posted on the State Board of Education (ISBE) website, this reform will make it easier for parents to see just how many of their children's classmates are not vaccinated. August is National Immunization Awareness Month.

The State of Illinois requires vaccinations to protect children from a range of diseases. Failure to be properly immunized can lead to high absenteeism, heart problems or even brain damage. According to ISBE, more than 60,000 students (about three percent) were not in compliance with immunization or health exam mandates during the 2010-11 school year. The bill passed unanimously in both chambers and is supported by public health advocates, the Chicago Teachers Union and the March of Dimes. The law is effective Jan. 1.

Governor Quinn also signed House Bill 1473, sponsored by Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) and Sen. William Delgado (D-Chicago), which allows the Chicago Board of Education to implement a program to break down barriers between students of different backgrounds. The law is inspired by the successful "Challenge Day", which employs a carefully-designed, day-long series of trust-building exercises to foster new levels of empathy and respect. The law is effective immediately.

In addition, Governor Quinn signed Senate Bill 3259, sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) and Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora), which creates the Commission for High School Graduation Achievement and Success to help boost high school graduation rates. The Commission will examine alternative education programs in Illinois and other states, as well as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Learning Exchanges, the Illinois Pathways Initiative and other tools for keeping at-risk teens in school. The Commission's report is due to the governor and General Assembly by November 1, 2012 in advance of veto session. The law is effective immediately.

Governor Quinn continued to emphasize the need for public pension reform to ensure adequate resources for education in Illinois. Unless comprehensive pension reform is enacted, a new analysis prepared by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) shows that Illinois is on track to spend more on pensions than education by Fiscal Year 2016. Governor Quinn has proposed a comprehensive plan that will eliminate the unfunded liability over 30 years. The governor recently called a special session dedicated to pension reform on August 17.

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