Iowa’s top education official is urging legislators to pass a bill that would raise the high school drop-out age from 16 to 18. Iowa Department of Education director Judy Jeffrey is trying to get the House Education Committee to endorse the bill this week.
"We believe this is really a message that needs to be sent to all of our students in Iowa that a high school diploma is the bare minimum that this state expects," Jeffrey says. The bill will be dead for the year if it fails to pass by Friday’s deadline for committee action. Some Republicans argue raising the drop-out age will cause more discipline problems in high schools.