Washington, D.C.—Congressman Steve King (IA-5) today commended Iowa’s education leaders for the approval of the state’s education accountability plan. Counselor to the Secretary Susan Sclafani made the announcement on behalf of Secretary Paige during a visit to Downtown Elementary in Des Moines. Iowa Education Director Ted Stillwell joined Sclafani.

“Whoever controls the test controls the curriculum,” said King. “To move to a federal test would be a move to mediocrity. We’ve been in compliance with the intent of the No Child Left Behind Act for generations.”

King and his staff have had numerous conversations with the Department of Education about the need to tailor the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act to fit Iowa. In a letter to Secretary of Education Rod Paige, King stated, “I am pleased that an agreement has now been reached to meet the goals of No Child Left Behind while accommodating Iowa’s system of local content standards and the use of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.”

While working with the Department of Education to accept the Iowa plan King maintained that education is a very important issue for Iowans as we are rightly proud of our tradition of educational excellence and commitment to continual improvement. Said King, “Iowans want to build on our past success, not reinvent the wheel.”

"Iowa's accountability plan reflects a strong commitment to involve the community, educators and other stakeholders in designing an accountability system," Paige said. “I congratulate Education Director Ted Stillwell and his team for leading this bold initiative to ensure every child in Iowa has access to a high-quality education.”

“Iowa is the 32nd accountability plan to be approved. I am thrilled, on behalf of Secretary Paige, to deliver this good news to Iowa,” Sclafani said during her school visit.

Iowa’s education accountability plan details the process and timeline by which the state plans to achieve full proficiency of the state-developed academic content standards. It also addresses how Iowa intends to close persistent achievement gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers.