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Iowa House passes school reform bill

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March 14th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa House has passed an education reform plan would give the state more control over how student progress is measured and how teachers and administrators are evaluated. Those are among just a few aspects of education traditionally handled by local districts but passed on to state officials in the Republican-backed bill.
 
Under the measure, the Iowa Department of Education would establish new procedures for evaluating teachers and administrators annually. High school students would have to take new tests to determine if they’re prepared for college or a career and third graders not reading at grade level would be held back from fourth grade.
 
The bill passed 53-46 after lawmakers debated most of Tuesday, ending just before midnight when a drafting error was discovered in the bill.