Meet Art Staed
Art Staed hails from Joplin, Missouri, and is one of 11 kids. He graduated from McAuley Regional Catholic High School, earned his college degree at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, a master’s degree in Secondary Education at The University of Missouri at Kansas City, and a second master’s degree in Secondary Administration from East Central University of Oklahoma. Earlier in his career, Art taught math and science students in the Catholic schools in Kansas City, Missouri; social studies to students in the Shawnee Mission, Kansas district; alternative education in Ardmore, Oklahoma; and the most recent 15 years as Social Studies Facilitator and social studies teacher in Cedar Rapids Community Schools.
Briefly leaving education for a career with U.S. Cellular, Art became a direct sales supervisor and manager of numerous retail stores. U.S. Cellular brought Art to Cedar Rapids as a national trainer, where he was responsible for providing more than 30 different certified professional training courses.
After returning to public education, Art taught Business Management and Time Management courses at Kirkwood and developed workforce training at the Iowa Workforce Development office in Cedar Rapids.
Art and his wife Susan owned and managed Coffee Talk Café, where he hosted “Coffee Talk: Corridor Conversations,” a videotaped series of talks with local community leaders about issues affecting the Cedar Rapids community.
Art was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 2006. Since then, he has championed efforts to provide preschool for all of Iowa’s eligible children and worked to pass legislation improving teacher salaries. Art has also supported after-school programs and grants to help struggling students reach grade level and stay in school.
Art helped floor-manage the Veterans homeowner assistance program and the expanded charitable programs that provide financial assistance to needy and homeless Iowa Veterans. He also moved the bill creating the Iowa Power Fund, a blueprint for funding State renewable energy workforce programs. Art also supported the expansion of incentives targeted to small business development centers and has helped expand historic preservation tax credits, match funding for recreational trails, and additional funding for Iowa tourism.
Today, you will find him knocking on voters’ doors and getting voter input nearly every afternoon and evening. He resides in Cedar Rapids with his wife, Susan. They have four children and five grandchildren.