Iowa’s community colleges play a big role in expanding our middle class by helping more Iowans gain the knowledge and skills they need to fill jobs, further their education and enhance their quality of life.
Mason City schools established Iowa’s first two-year educational institution in 1918. By 1930, at least 32 Iowa communities had organized junior colleges as part of their public school systems.
In 1965, the Legislature merged many of these junior colleges—now known as community colleges—and established financial support through student tuition, as well as federal, state and local funds. At the time, these colleges had 9,110 students. Fifty years later, enrollment is 10 times that. In 2015, Iowa’s community colleges educated and trained more than 93,000 Iowans.
Today, community college students include:
64,235 Iowans taking courses to get an associate’s degree or to transfer to a four-year college or university. 27,742 Iowans enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs that prepare them for skilled jobs. 33,145 high school students earning their first college credits. High schoolers now make up more than a third of community college students, up 5.4 percent from last year. 232,480 Iowans participating in non-credit programs and courses that teach basic personal and academic skills, prepare people to enter the workforce, provide technical training for specific job opportunities and allow citizens to pursue special interests.
Because they do so much for Iowans, businesses, communities and our economy, community colleges deserve our support. For more on the good things community colleges do in Iowa, see the 2015 Community College Annual Report on the Iowa Department of Education website.
New approach to stop drunk driving
The connection between alcohol, drugs and crime is an ongoing concern. Drinking and drugs can negatively affect all aspects of a person's life; hurt family, friends and community; and create public safety and economic problems, according to the National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence.
For example, impaired drivers account for a significant number of accidents, deaths and injuries. In 2014, more than a third of all Iowa traffic fatalities involved an impaired driver.
This year, the Iowa Senate approved an initiative to reduce these fatalities and other drug and alcohol-related crimes. SF 2190 would establish 24/7 Sobriety pilot projects in counties that want to try the program. Accountability is the foundation of 24/7 Sobriety. Offenders must take breath tests twice a day or wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet. If offenders test positive for alcohol, they face immediate consequences.
Results in other states have been positive. South Dakota, for example, saw a reduction in arrests for repeat DUI and domestic violence offenses. In 2005, South Dakota was the first state to establish a 24/7 program, with a five county pilot project that has since expanded. A study of that state's efforts published in the American Journal of Public Health found that "that frequent alcohol testing with swift, certain, and modest sanctions can reduce problem drinking and improve public health outcomes."
In North Dakota, the before-and-after results for convictions and crashes improved significantly after 24/7 program intervention. According to transportation researchers at the North Dakota State University, "The 24/7 Sobriety Program clearly deters most participants from partaking in dangerous behaviors."
Establishing a 24/7 Sobriety pilot project in Iowa won bipartisan approval in the Senate and is now under consideration in the House.
Iowans deserve privacy at home
All Iowans should feel comfortable in their homes. The thought of being watched or even filmed is alarming, but it’s a real worry for many.
New technology has allowed some bad actors to install filming devices in homes and apartments without the permission or knowledge residents. Residents and their activities can then be viewed from a remote location. It’s a violation of personal privacy that can cause lasting social, psychological and emotional damage.
Senate File 2185 is a bipartisan effort to punish unscrupulous landlords and others who film Iowans in their home or apartment without their knowledge.
The bill expands Iowa’s definition of trespass to include intentionally viewing, photographing or filming another person in a dwelling with no legitimate purpose, when the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and has not consented to being filmed or photographed. This would include placing a camera or filming device on the property and retrieving it at a later date.