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Iowa's Board of Education Hears from the Governor and Acting Lieutenant Governor

Iowa Department of Education

The governor and the acting lieutenant governor appeared before the state Board of Education Thursday. One point they made applied to rural schools.

During her Condition of the State address, Kim Reynolds announced she was appointing Adam Gregg to lead an initiative aimed at growing rural Iowa. Gregg was by her side as they spoke with state education board members. He says connecting schools in rural areas to the Internet will be part of his efforts. Gregg says Iowa isn’t doing too badly, with 99 percent of schools providing the recommended band width.

“But there are still five districts representing 28 schools, and nearly 3.500 students who don’t have that connectivity," he says. "And there are 28 schools that don’t have a fiber connection.”

Gregg says the rural Iowa initiative is in its early stages but it should have an impact on education.

Governor Reynolds talked about her administration’s investments in public education. She says she has funneled $37 million toward efforts in the so-called STEM fields since taking office, and provided $735 million in new funding for K-through-12 classrooms. Reynolds says education remains a priority.

“In a very tight budget year, we’re still struggling with the amount of revenue coming in, we’re proposing $54 million for K-12 education,” she says.

Board members asked for support in efforts to close achievement gaps, changes in assessment tools to determine students’ knowledge and better teacher preparation programs.

The Iowa Department of Education is out with its annual condition of education reports for K-through-12 classrooms and community colleges. Nearly 50,000 Iowa students are now earning credits from community colleges while they are still enrolled in high school. Overall, the number of students taking classes at community colleges is down around two percent from last year. The number of students in public K-through-12 schools increased for the sixth straight year, continuing a comeback from 17 years of declines.