Public schools are essential to communities

Four years ago, when I was a candidate for the first time for a school board position in Cedar Rapids, my chief concern was the fate of my neighborhood school and neighborhood schools around the city that were slated for closure and disinvestment by the district’s Facilities Master Plan. I still am fighting for those neighborhoods.

But the last four years have raised much deeper concerns about the attack on public schools as an institution. The only way to respond to these attacks is to reconfirm our commitment to public schools as a foundational, essential space in our democratic system. We have hard work ahead to make sure the public school system serves all children and families in our community, as well as the underappreciated staff who make it all possible.

The first step in strengthening public schools is to take a stand against discrimination in all forms. It is hard work to teach each generation about the importance of equal rights and respect for all. It is even harder when there is a well-funded movement to divide people and pass laws designed to exclude members of the community and their history from public schools altogether. The demonization of LGBTQ people, attempts to ban books that make people uncomfortable, laws designed to scare teachers away from discussing the history of our country and discrimination — these are all at odds with the idea that all people are created equal. We cannot hope to have equal education if we do not stand for equal inclusion in our schools.

We also need better policies to serve the working people who make every day possible in the public schools. Higher pay and more staffing needs to be directed to the classroom and school building level, where the essential work of preparing children for their future happens. That means looking closely at administrative costs to make sure every dollar counts. It also means advocating, loudly, for increased education funding at the state government level instead of more tax cuts while there are large surpluses in the budget.

Most important is to come together behind the idea that public schools are essential. The pandemic proved that beyond a doubt. How we move forward now will determine if our school systems can help us rebuild our communities as a valued space, where every person matters. Your vote is the first step in that democratic process.

Dexter Merschbrock is a candidate for Cedar Rapids school board District 4.