Gov. Tom Vilsack,
rumored by some to be a Democratic candidate in the upcoming
presidential primary, has just passed a major education bill in Iowa.
According to a Des Moines Register story,
the bill will "put more money in public school teachers' wallets and
require high
school students across the state to meet certain requirements to
graduate." Basically, there will be a raise for teachers of $2,700 over
three years, high school students will be required to take a
predetermined number of years of each class in order to graduate (ex.
four years of English), and there is additional dollars devoted to
pre-school education, amongst other provisions.



This is great for teachers in Iowa, probably, but it is more important
as a bellwether for education among Democratic party hopefuls. It is
nice to see it on the agenda of at least some Democrats (the governors
have an easier time with this because they did not have to vote on
NCLB).      



Watch the press conference here, and view the press release here.