The Department of Education has assembled a taskforce on teacher leadership and pay to come up with recommendations on ways to improve schools in Iowa. Taskforce member Kent Mick, who teaches history in the Corwith-Wesley-LuVerne school district, says they need to look at how to get and retain better teachers.  “We recruit football players and basketball players but we don’t recruit the best teachers out of high school,” Mick says. Mick says the profession of teaching needs to be elevated. Iowa Department of Education Director, Jason Glass, agrees. He says teachers should be treated more like doctors – from training to salary. 

“The medical profession has a lot of esteem, respect for it, so that’s where we are trying to move this conversation around the teaching profession in Iowa, how could we do that same thing for teachers?,” Glass explains. But Jessica Gogerty of the Des Moines School District, says improving teacher performance is not just about a paycheck. “That we are still falling short isn’t because we didn’t pay them enough,” according to Gogerty. She says teachers are not holding back and saying “oh gosh I would do a better job if you just paid me an extra.” Gogerty says that teachers need better support systems. The taskforce will continue to meet throughout the summer. They will take their recommendations to the legislature in the fall.

(Dar Danielson/Radio Iowa)

Officials with MidAmerican Energy, Monday, issued a statement warning its customers about “Past Due” account, phone scams. The company says it has responded to several scams involving persons who call its customers, posing as MidAmerican Energy customer service associates or attorneys. The caller says the customer’s account is past due, and payment is needed immediately to avoid disconnection. The caller will follow-up by asking for your credit card number.

MidAmerican Energy says credit card numbers and any personal information should NOT be provided to suspicious callers. Customers are advised to end the conversation and call MidAmerican Energy’s Customer Service line at 1-888-427-5632. There, a company representative will confirm whether the call was from MidAmerican’s Energy call center, or a scam artist. The CSR’s can also confirm your bill payment, service or an appointment at your home or place of business.

If you receive a suspicious call, or other unusual type of contact from someone claiming to be with the utility company, contact your local law enforcement agency, immediately.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a Nodaway man was sent to the hospital following an accident Monday morniong on a county road about two and a-half miles northwest of Stanton. 62-year old Gary Dean Poe was transported by private vehicle to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, where he was checked for possible injuries.

Officials say Poe was traveling east on 200th Street at around 9:25-a.m., when the left front tire blew out on the 1979 Kenworth straight truck he was driving. The incident caused the truck, which was loaded with gravel, to cross the center line of the road and enter into a ditch, where it hit a fence and came to rest upright. No citations were issued.

The truck, registered to David Hart, of Stanton, sustained $15,000 damage. The fence, owned by Ronald True, of Villisca, sustained about $150 damage.

The Atlantic Police Department reported Monday afternoon, that a Pottawattamie County woman was arrested Sunday. 42-year old Theresa Reynolds, of Oakland, was arrested in Atlantic on a charge of OWI/1st Offense. Reynolds was brought to the Cass County Jail and held pending an appearance before the magistrate.

The number of homes sold in Iowa increased again in April. The Iowa Association of Realtors (IAR) reports two-thousand-606 (2,606) homes were sold last month. That’s just 22 more than in April of 2011, but association president Dale Gross, of Atlantic, says it marks the “eighth or ninth” consecutive month of increased sales. “It’s not up much, but it continues in the same direction,” Gross said. He noted the first four months of 2012 marked the strongest first quarter in terms of homes sold in Iowa since 2007. The median sale price of a home in Iowa last month was $124,375. That’s an increase of 8.2% over the previous year.

“People are beginning to think that the dream of home ownership is affordable with our low interest rates, so they’re stepping up and buying a home,” Gross said. The April report from the IAR shows the average home stayed on the market for 112 days before being sold. That’s up just one day over last year. The inventory of homes being sold, statewide, dropped from roughly 23,000 in April 2011 to just over 21,000 this year.

(Pat Curtis/Radio Iowa)