CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The new director of the Wyoming Education Department says the state is on the right track in its effort to hold schools and educators accountable for the academic performance of their K-12 students.

Richard Crandall says with the amount of money Wyoming spends on education, it's proper to ask why Wyoming students aren't among the top performers nationally in the classroom. Wyoming is among the highest nationally in education spending per capita.

The state Legislature has been working for several years on establishing the best ways to test and measure student academic performance and how to hold individual schools, administrators and teachers responsible for students not being prepared for college or careers.

Crandall says the reforms can be done while still preserving Wyoming's culture of favoring local control in education.

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