How is Iowa treating its children?

How is our state government treating the children in our state?

In 2024, Gov. Reynolds again rejected a program that would have sent $29 million dollars to Iowa for food for about 240,000 hungry kids.

We want good schools. Public schools are losing funding because of the cost of private school vouchers. The voucher program will cost taxpayers approximately 218 million dollars this school year. When the Iowa City School Board closed the Hills elementary school they said it was cost-cutting measure and blamed “the state legislature’s funding actions” (Iowa City Press Citizen, 3/27/24).

Our children deserve safe drinking water. Iowa’s water tests show consistently higher levels of nitrates than the EPA recommends as safe. NIH research has shown a link between nitrates in water and cancer. Many say we should be concerned. We have the fastest growing rate of new cancers of any state in the nation and the second highest cancer rate overall. Our children drink Iowa water every day.

If our children need mental health services, they will have to wait. Iowa is 45th in the nation for per capita mental health care providers.

And if our children are part of the LGBTQ community, they cannot expect help from anyone in our state government. We know of families with LGBTQ members who have moved out of state because they did not feel they could live safely in Iowa.

We care about kids. We need a legislature and a governor who also care about kids.

Jacqueline Martin

Mount Vernon