Two school districts in the Raccoon Valley Radio Network’s coverage area have been selected to receive first-year funding through the Iowa Department of Education’s new Teacher Leadership & Compensation Program.
Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Department of Education Director Brad Buck have announced that Greene County and Panorama were two of the 39 school districts selected for first-year funding out of 146 applications that came in from across the state.
Panorama Superintendent Kathy Elliot says she and other district officials have been high-fiving with excitement over the recent news, and she explains how she believes her schools will specifically benefit from the teacher leadership funding.
“I feel that we have already started the work of really strengthening our instruction and really trying to improve student achievement, but this will give us the boost that we need to get kids moving, to get our student achievement at extremely high levels, and to make sure that we have the absolute best quality instruction happening in classrooms.”
Panorama and Greene County will receive $309 per pupil as part of their first-year funding. 
Districts were selected for the first round of funding based on “the strength of their application as well as geographic and size diversity,” according to a release from the Governor’s Office.
The new Teacher Leadership & Compensation Program will be implemented across the state over the next three years, with the goal being to have all districts participating by 2016-17.