DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials say Iowa student scores have dropped in statewide reading and math tests. The Des Moines Register reports the percentage of Iowa fourth-graders on grade level in reading fell to 74.8 percent last spring from 75.7 percent during the 2014-15 school year. In math, fourth-grade proficiency fell to 79 percent this year from 80.3 percent in 2014-15.

Jay Pennington is the Iowa Department of Education’s bureau chief of information and analysis services, and he says the tests are only one measure of success. Until this school year’s tests in spring, results on the Iowa Assessments have increased every year since the accountability exams were begun in the 2011-12 school year.

Officials say it’s unclear why there were drops for the 2015-2016 school year.

The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education Wednesday, approved the hiring of Ray and Associates to conduct a search for the District’s next Superintendent. The fee for their service is $6,500. Their bid was the lowest of the three firms interviewed by the board on September 28^th. They will be charged with finding candidates to replace Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein, who is retiring at the end of the current school year.

Board Member, Dr. Keith Swanson had suggested prior to the Board’s 4-to 1 vote, that they hire Dr. David Else, of Cedar Falls, as a consultant. Else is formerly with the University of Northern Iowa. He served as the Director of Education Leadership. (Click on the left side of the audio player to listen)

In other business, the Atlantic School Board approved an annual Industrial Technology Sharing Agreement with the Griswold School District, and Superintendent Amstein said the District’s Certified Enrollment numbers won’t be available until a couple of other districts submit their open enroll-out data to the Atlantic District.

And, the Board, Wednesday, approved the resignation of Washington Elementary Special Ed Para-educator Regina Perez.

State transportation officials say they’re planning to test driverless cars on a section of Interstate 380 in eastern Iowa sometime next year. The DOT is partnering with a company, called Here, that’s creating real time maps of I-380 road conditions to guide those driverless cars between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Michael Miller, a truck driver who makes deliveries across the country, told KCRG-TV he believes roadway safety will suffer.

“They (law enforcement) are always on us about what we have to do to be safe…but if they put something out here that’s going to drive itself, who is going to have to be in control of that? A computer? A computer messes up more than humans do,” Miller said. Scott Marler, with the Iowa DOT, disagrees. He says the computerized vehicles and freights will have HD maps in them that will constantly update road conditions and they will always know what’s ahead.

“More than 94 percent of crashes are tied into some type of driver error or driver choice, so with these technologies, we also know the potential to reduce crashes are more than 80 percent,” Marler told KCRG. Officials picked I-380 between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids for the driverless car project because of the high volume of freight traffic.

“We do believe this is the future of transportation in Iowa and we think it’s closer than most folks think,” Marler said. Miller, the truck driver, isn’t just concerned about road safety. He’s worried about losing his job if driverless cars become commonplace. “This is all I know how to do. You take this away from me, what else am I going to do?” Miller told KCRG.

(KCRG TV via Radio Iowa)

A spokesperson for the Iowa A-C-L-U says a study by the national A-C-L-U and Human Rights Watch found a huge disparity in how whites and blacks in the state are treated when it comes to drugs. “A black person in Iowa is seven times more likely to be arrested for drug possession than a white person — even though studies find the two races use drugs at about the same rate,” according to Veronica Fowler.

Nationwide, a black person is two-and-a-half times more likely to be arrested than a white person. Iowa is second in the nation for that disparity in arrests, behind only Montana. Fowler says this study follows up an earlier one on marijuana. “A black person in Iowa is eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person in Iowa,” Fowler says. “And again that just shows how people are treated very differently.” Fowler says this latest study reinforces the need for some change.

“I think one thing we definitely need to do is look at our drug laws in this state. I think our state legislature needs to consider decriminalizing various illicit drugs, because the war on drugs we started in the 1970’s just isn’t working,” Fowler says. She says the failed efforts to create and then change Iowa’s medical marijuana law don’t give much hope that something will be done with the overall drug issue. Fowler says it is something that needs to be addressed.

“It is a public health problem, we are filling up our prisons, we are devastating our families, devastating our communities, with no indication that it’s doing any good,” Fowler says. She says the cost to house people for drugs crimes is taking away resources that could be used for other things. Fowler says Iowa is one of only three states that automatically and permanently takes away a person’s right to vote after a felony conviction, and that is another impact from the failed drug war.

(Radio Iowa)