Recently the state House of Representatives passed a bill that would give local school districts more control.

Currently Iowa schools operate under “Dillon’s Rule” which allows school districts to do anything expressly permitted by the state. The “Home Rule” bill, would allow school districts to do anything that is not expressly prohibited by the state. Knoxville School Superintendent Cassi Pearson tells KNIA/KRLS News the new bill would allow the Knoxville school district to be able to embrace new learning opportunities quicker instead of waiting on different legislation. She says sometimes the school district has to wait to engage in different 21st century learning opportunities. She says the bill would also help get rid of obsolete teaching practices that have been in place because of the state law. Pearson adds, there is some hesitation to the bill because any time you go from strict regulations to more permissive, you want to be careful to not overstep your bounds. Pearson says to avoid the overstepping, the Knoxville School District will want to be thoughtful and work with the community if the bill were to be enacted into law.