Written by Matt McCoy | 13 August 2010

As summer comes to an end, teachers and students prepare to head back to school—and I plan to join them in the classroom.

The “America's Legislators Back to School Program” brings state legislators into classrooms to meet personally with young constituents, answer questions, share ideas and listen to concerns. The goal is to give young people—the nation's future leaders—a firsthand look at how representative democracy works at the state level.

This year, more than 1,300 state lawmakers will visit with an estimated 320,000 students in their classrooms. The Back to School Program is sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Trust for Representative Democracy.

Bringing civics and democracy to life for our young people is one of my favorite parts of being a senator. I’m setting up my fall visits. If you’d like me to come to your school, call me at 515-274-0561 or e-mail me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Written by Matt McCoy | 11 August 2010

The investments we’re making to prepare our students for work and life are investments in Iowa’s people, the greatest resource we have when it comes to keeping our state one of the very best places to live, work and raise a family.

Strong local schools are one reason Iowa is doing better than many other state’s during the national economic recession. We’re continuing efforts to improve student achievement in ways that will help Iowans succeed in the 21st century. We’re investing in our schools, increasing teacher quality and making higher education affordable.

During the 2010 session, a bipartisan commitment to student achievement helped us pass a strong package of basic state aid for Iowa schools that included $100 million in federal money. This school funding will be used for textbooks, heating bills, technology and other basic needs. We also specifically targeted some dollars to math and science education so that Iowa will remain on the cutting edge when it comes to growing a 21st century economy. I want to see the math and science skills of Iowa students improve, to prepare more high-quality math and science teachers for our classrooms, and to promote statewide collaboration in math and science education.

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education program at the University of Northern Iowa is helping make that a reality. In fact, the program aims to double the number of math and science teachers in our public schools. For details on STEM, go to www.iowamathscience.org.

To learn more about the Legislature’s recent education investments, visit www.senate.iowa.gov/democrats and type “education” in the search bar at the upper right side of your screen.