Report shows trouble in Iowa’s education system

A new report card on Iowa schools shows some troublesome trends. Iowa Department of Education spokesman Ron Parker says student test scores aren’t going up.Parker says, for example, about 68 percent of last year’s fourth-graders were proficient readers. That’s a four- percent decline from 1993 test scores.Parker says it’s worrisome because reading is so important. He says it’s a concern that if the students don’t learn in the first two or three years, they’ll have trouble in other subjects.The state’s annual “Condition of Education” report was released yesterday.