Here’s how Iowa City school board candidates stand on priorities, curriculum

Editor’s note: This article is part of The Gazette’s coverage leading up to Tuesday’s city and school elections.

IOWA CITY — Expanding access to 4-year-old preschool, improving teacher and staff recruitment and retention and ensuring parent voices are heard are among the top priorities for candidates seeking a seat on the Iowa City school board.

Seven candidates are vying for four seats in Tuesday’s election. Maka Pilcher Hayek is not seeing re-election. The seven-member board serves about 14,800 students in the Iowa City Community School District, and board members are not paid.

The Gazette asked candidates in a questionnaire about why they want to serve on the board and their priorities if elected. Incumbents are marked with an (i).

The candidates are:

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Molly Abraham

Molly Abraham wants to serve on the Iowa City school board because she believes her experience as a parent, teacher and administrator gives her a “unique perspective.”

Abraham was appointed to the Iowa City school board last year and is running for election to the board for the first time.

Abraham said she wants to continue to prioritize equity for all students and access to high-quality instruction with “top-notch facilities.” She wants to ensure students have equitable access to supports and services they need to succeed and thrive, including mental health, transportation, nutrition and special education, she said.

If elected, Abraham also wants the board to maintain its competitive wages and benefits packages to retain and recruit highly qualified, diverse staff.

Abraham said the district follows Iowa’s academic standards. Choosing curriculum is “best done” by content area specialists, she said.

“We have a robust curriculum review process that includes teachers, administrators, and curriculum experts looking at what we are teaching and how to improve what we do,” she said.

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Micah Broekmeier

Micah Broekmeier, who has student taught in the district, said he wants to serve on the board so his son and others in the district can “have the best opportunity for success.”

His priorities if elected include “righting the ship” when it comes to the district’s budget. This includes making budget cuts by reducing administrative positions “before our taxpayers feel an increased burden because of our board’s inaction.”

When reducing the school’s budget, however, “We need to make sure teachers and classes aren’t the ones who suffer,” Broekmeier said.

Broekmeier’s other priorities include vocational training for students while they are in school and retaining teachers by reducing class sizes.

He said curriculum should be determined by the Iowa Department of Education with guidance from residents in the school district.

Robert Decker

Robert Decker said he wants to serve on the Iowa City board for his kids and other parents “who need a voice.” As someone with children in the school district, Decker said he doesn’t “need experience” to sit on the board.

“I don’t have a political agenda, just a vested interest in the education of our children,” Decker said.

Decker, who said he hasn’t attended any school board meetings, said his top three priorities if elected are reading, writing and arithmetic. “I will inform the parents about all things,” he said.

Decker said parents should determine what curriculum is taught in schools by the school district making the curriculum available online “with no hidden agenda.”

“The district needs to focus on education, not social restructuring and propaganda,” Decker said.

Decker did not provide a photo of himself to The Gazette.

Charlie Eastham

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Charlie Eastham is running for re-election, he said, because of the experiences he’s had and relationships he’s formed by serving as a board liaison to the district’s Equity Committee.

The Equity Committee is a place for school community concerns related to equal educational opportunities and multicultural/gender fair education can be expressed, according to the district’s website.

Eastham also has been a member of The Black Voices Project and the Johnson County Interfaith Coalition and served on the board of directors for the Center for Worker Justice.

In another term, Eastham said he would prioritize eliminating academic achievement and discipline disparities between white students and students of color, which he said the district has put in place “systemic guidance” to address.

Eastham also would like to focus on attracting and retaining educators and staff through compensation and improving the “racial climate” in schools, he said.

Eastham said teachers, students, parents community members and the school board all play a role in developing curriculum. He would like to see the district continue to advance career and technical education opportunities — including offering apprenticeships — for students.

“Active teachers have the highest level of expertise in creating classroom environments that support the learning of specific content areas,” Eastham said. “

Mitchell Lingo

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Mitchell Lingo, a former teacher, wants to run for school board because he said he believes public schools are being made into “the underdog“ by state lawmakers.

“New state laws and policies regarding how the (education savings account) game is played takes the gloves off the private and charter schools while public schools are left with their gloves on,” Lingo said. “Given the pernicious nature of vouchers, my primary drive to serve on the board is to keep (the district) as competitive as possible while maintaining equity.“

If elected, Lingo said his priorities include continuing to expand the district’s preschool program and offering parents half-day child care at a “competitive and affordable price.” Lingo also wants to see academic and career paths expanded for middle and high school students, regardless of whether they are interested in the trades or college.

Lingo said choosing curriculum for a school should be a “community and data-driven process,” that includes teachers and parents, a process that already is being followed in the Iowa City school district.

Several different curriculum should be tested across the district “to see which best meets the needs of our learners,” Lingo said. From there data is collected, evaluated and the best curriculum chosen by a committee with approval from the school board.

Lingo said he is concerned about the “rigor” of the district’s junior high math curriculum.

“According to the math curriculum coordinator, the curriculum is not rigorous enough for the current middle school students,” Lingo said. “If I hear this as an issue from parents, teachers and the coordinator, it is fair to say the district should be looking for a curriculum with greater rigor.”

Lisa Williams

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Lisa Williams is running for re-election because it is “rewarding both professionally and personally,” she said.

“During the next four years, we will undoubtedly continue to see actions by the state legislature that seek to weaken public education and encroach on the judgment of trained educational professionals,” Williams said. “It is critically important to have board members ready and willing to fight to keep our district strong and resolute in our commitment to serving all students to the best of our ability.”

Williams’ priorities if reelected include ensuring 4-year-old preschool is accessible to every family in the district, advocating for new, innovative programming and robust curricular and extracurricular options, and ensuring schools remain safe and secure places to learn and work.

Williams said the district should continue to use its current process in making curriculum decisions, including surveying parents and teachers and forming a committee that includes parents Each subject has an eight-year review cycle.

“I believe this process incorporates input from all relevant stakeholders — teachers, students, parents community members and administrators — while relying on the expertise of our teachers,” Williams said.

The district also has a formal process in place for parents, students and community members to voice any concerns they may have about the curriculum, Williams said.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com