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It's not often a local school superintendent gets a chance to testify before a U.S. Senate sub committee in Washington D.C. 

That's exactly what Keokuk Public School Superintendent Jane Babcock did Wednesday.  Babcock, along with several others including the U.S. Secretary of Education testified in front of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human services and education about the need for more federal funding for the " No Child Left Behind" program.

"What I'd ask from you today is remember that when you want to show families we care about them, we need to remember before school and after school programs," said Babcock. "We have 300 kids a day. That will end next year unless we get additional funding and after that it will go away and that is my tutoring program."

Over the past few years, the Keokuk School District has tried to do its part to meet No Child Left Behind Guidelines by instituting a reading recovery program to help students to boost test scores.

The district has also began a pilot program for block scheduling students in English classes.