Now that the State Supplemental Aid has been approved at 3%, there are some who have concerns it may not be enough.

The main concern some opponents have is there won’t be enough funds to keep good, quality teachers, but Iowa Senator for District 12 Amy Sinclair says that there’s also some workforce issues that are causing harm as well and are bigger than what the 3% will negate.

“We have issues with violent behaviors from students in classrooms. We have teachers feeling ill equipped to be able to respond to those. We have curriculum issues that have caused teachers to just walk away. There was a study done of about 600 upper Midwest teachers who had left the teaching profession, and those two items were at the heart of why they were leaving. Classroom behavior and curriculum with which they disagreed.”

Sinclair adds that she does agree that teachers should be paid more, but that some of the other problems need addressed as well.