Representative Thomas votes against House education reform legislation

The Iowa House of Representatives has passed an education reform bill after two days of debate.

State Representative Roger Thomas of Elkader voted against the measure.  He says while everyone agrees on the goal to make sure every student has the skills to land a good-paying job, he voted against the bill because some common sense, research based proposals that he suggested were rejected.

Thomas wanted the legislation to include measures covering smaller class sizes, full support of early literacy and more teacher collaboration.

He did agree with the bill's language about personalized learning for students at their own pace, expanded preschool, keeping/recruiting great teachers, engaging more parents, more AP online classes, kindergarten assessments, and putting each child on a track to continue their education or learn a skill-specific trade to land a good job.

Thomas predicts the bill approved by the House is likely to undergo significant changes over the next three weeks as the Governor, Senate, and House try to reach consensus on education reform before adjourning.