Some Iowa school districts are showing proficiency rates far exceeding expectations, while others are significantly behind.
How school districts spend our tax dollars is important to watch—but just as important is understanding what taxpayers are getting in return. K-12 education is the largest consumer of Iowa’s General Fund revenues (such as income and sales taxes) and local property tax dollars. With such a significant investment, Iowans deserve to see strong academic outcomes. Unfortunately, too many of Iowa’s public schools are spending large sums of money while student proficiency in core subjects like math and reading remains unacceptably low.
Proficiency
Through its National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects proficiency data on students in all 50 states. Known as the Nation’s Report Card, these results show where students stand compared to the national average using consistent methodology across states. According to 2024 data, only a minority of Iowa students achieved proficiency across the three grade levels evaluated:
No Excuse
Education advocates offer several reasons why districts struggle to meet proficiency standards. National data, for example, shows that low-income fourth graders typically read two to three grade levels below their higher-income peers. Meanwhile, eighth-grade math scores had been declining for more than a decade before the pandemic pushed already-struggling students even further behind.
However, exceptions to these national trends prove the rule—some districts have proficiency rates that far exceed expectations. For instance, Steubenville City in eastern Ohio has a poverty rate higher than 96% of districts nationwide, yet 99% of its third graders were proficient in reading. In 2016, students in the rural Neshoba County Schools of Mississippi scored more than half a grade level below the national average. By 2023, they scored nearly 1.5 grade levels above average—even improving during the COVID-19 pandemic.
High poverty, rural geography, and district size provide no excuse for failure. School boards like those in Steubenville and Neshoba County have demonstrated that student academic achievement must come first.
Iowa’s Exceptional Districts
Researchers at The74 analyzed all Iowa school districts to identify those that significantly outperformed expectations and achieved exceptional results in reading and math. They calculated each district’s expected proficiency rate based on its local poverty rate and then compared that projection to students’ actual scores. This approach highlights districts that are beating the odds and successfully educating their students.
According to the researchers, “looking at the scores by including poverty rates helps identify places with great school systems because without controlling for poverty, a ‘good’ school district may receive credit for student learning that it actually had little part in.”
While those districts above should be celebrated for their commitment to student learning, others across the state are falling far short. The table below highlights districts where both reading, and math proficiency rates are well below expectations—even in communities with modest poverty rates and significant property tax growth.
What To Do
Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation (ITRF) continues to advocate for income tax cuts and property tax relief because the total burden on Iowans is substantial—and growing. But beyond the dollars, the data above makes one thing clear: no single factor determines success or failure in a school district. Poverty levels, enrollment size, or geography don’t guarantee outcomes. What matters most is leadership, focus, and commitment to student achievement.
School boards and parents must prioritize learning above everything else. Unfortunately, some districts have lost sight of their mission and simply insist that more funding alone will improve outcomes. That mindset is not supported by the data.
Taxpayers should hold their local officials accountable—not just for how much is spent, but for what is accomplished. Every dollar should support the goal of student success. Iowa’s students deserve academic excellence, and taxpayers deserve a return on their investment.
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