(Radio Iowa) – Several of the governor’s education-related proposals are advancing in the Iowa Senate. Governor Reynolds is proposing that students be required to pass a civics test in order to graduate from high school. She’s also calling for creation of state-funded accounts for low and middle income parents who send their children to private school. “There are great schools, great teachers doing great things out there,” Reynolds says, “but…if it doesn’t reflect your values, then as a parent you should have an option.”

A bill that’s cleared a Senate subcommittee also requires that lists of all the books in school libraries be posted online. Melissa Peterson, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association, says that should apply to private schools, too. “If you are going to accept taxpayer dollars to fund your educational opportunity, you ought have to adhere to rules where people can then follow up on their taxpayer dollars and know what’s happening with them,” Peterson says.

A Senate subcommittee has also advanced a “ParentsBill of Rights” that would require a student to have parental consent before borrowing a school library book that could be considered obscene.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Grant Gerlock)