A plethora of new reports have given Iowa a failing grades in an area in which the state has long taken pride. From a National Education Association study showing that Iowa teacher pay ranks 41st in the nation to an Education Week “Quality Counts” report card that gave Iowa a disappointing C- in academic performance to analyses that show teacher training days rob students of days the Legislature mandates be spent in the classroom, there are irrefutable signs that Iowa’s unofficial motto as the “education state” is rooted more in sentimentality than in fact.

It will take more than ramping up teacher pay to lift Iowa’s public education system out of the trough, where it’s landed mainly due to the Legislature’s failure to respond to changes occurring globally. Higher starting salaries would help Iowa schools attract some of the best teachers, but these superior instructors also must be convinced that improving education is a top state priority.

There, the picture isn’t so encouraging. Iowa’s mark of C- in the Quality Counts report is misleading. A failure to adopt state standards, as most other states have, earned Iowa an F in standards and accountability. There’s also evidence Iowa’s graduation rate is slipping, and test scores aren’t improving as much as they are in other states.

The issue of local control is front and center in that debate. A beloved tradition, local control is also a double-edged sword. The freedom to set policy at the local level also includes the freedom to retain outdated models.

Legislators need to approach education initiatives as if they’re starting from scratch and with an eye toward creating world-class opportunities for Iowa students that matches those in China, India and other countries that quickly surpassing the United States in the quality of public education. Under such a scenario, does it make sense to lengthen the school year? Does it make sense to replace the three-month summer vacation with several smaller breaks interspersed throughout the school calendar, as charter schools that have adopted year-round calendars have done?

Such proposals would be met with a fuss by legislators, especially those from rural districts where the shift from an agrarian to an industrial to a world economy isn’t quite as apparent as it is in urban areas. Tradition, though, is a poor reason to resist changes that could Iowa give students the best public education available anywhere in the world.