Statehouse assault on public schools continues in Iowa

We don’t really have “school choice” in Iowa.

Sure, we’re projected to spend $350 million next budget year to provide publicly funded scholarships for private school students. Gov. Kim Reynolds sold “school choice” to help low-income families escape failing schools. Now, any family, regardless of income, can qualify for scholarships.

But the real reason Reynolds pushed for scholarships was to provide money to families sending their kids to private religious schools, where the education they receive aligns with the governor’s Christian conservative world view.

Reynolds also made it clear she sees public schools as dens of iniquity with porn in libraries, leftist indoctrination and, worst of all, rainbow flags. Some scholarship-seekers also bristle at public school policies, such as requiring vaccines for enrollment.

But scholarships are not enough.

Republicans set to work making our public schools much more like private religious schools. Our Legislature is dictating what public schools can teach and what books can be in their libraries while demoralizing educators.

So, if you’re a family that wants to send your kids to public schools, with hopes they’ll learn to think for themselves, meet kids with different backgrounds, and find out about the world as it is, Republicans are working to make sure you really have no choice.

Oh, and as a bonus, Republicans have been lowballing public school funding for years.

The assault continues. Just look at this past week under the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than a rubella rash. More bills emerged targeting teaching, books and even vaccine requirements.

GOP lawmakers moved legislation forward that would prohibit schools from referencing sexual orientation or “gender theory” in lessons and school-sponsored programs for students in seventh through 12th grade. It expands on an existing law covering K-6 students, which is being challenged in federal court.

Public schools, charter schools and innovation zone schools would be barred from providing “any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction” relating to sexual orientation or “gender theory.”

Backers say they want to protect kids’ “innocence.” I say they clearly need to spend more time with high school kids.

What this really is about is pointing a finger of shame at thousands of Iowans. Backers of this bill want to reduce the lives of LGBTQ Iowans to nothing more than sex acts. Transgender people are just a “theory.” Dehumanizing your enemy is a page pulled straight from the authoritarian playbook. It’s one of the few books that’s not banned.

Also, this week, House Republican lawmakers considered a bill that would prohibit schools from entering into partnerships with their local public libraries.

The threat? Well, for starters, book mobiles.

Some districts have limited libraries or none, so public libraries and book mobiles provide books to students. But some GOP lawmakers are worried book mobiles will provide access to all sorts of sinful tomes school libraries can no longer offer.

It’s an abomination, on wheels.

I’ve also heard some book mobiles are basically party buses, equipped for pole dancing and drag shows. Can’t confirm.

So, stay away from public libraries. But that’s still not enough.

House Republicans also moved ahead with a bill that would get rid of all vaccine requirements for kids enrolling in public school. Students would no longer have to be immunized against hepatitis B, whooping cough, measles and meningitis, etc.

Iowa has medical and religious exemptions from vaccine requirements. But that’s not good enough. We need to yank out all the requirements. Freedom is spreading across Iowa like a bad case of measles.

This is awful news if you send a kid to public-school who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons. They depend on other kids getting vaccinated to protect them from serious illness and to build herd immunity. So, one family’s freedom could lead to heartbreak for other families. The risk of disease will rise for all students and staff.

Why are we doing this? It’s because we’ve lost our minds. Or they were eaten by brain worms. Kids should be kept away from the Legislature, because watching these jokers in action will make them dumber.

And what’s public schools’ reward for toeing all these lines? Inadequate state funding.

Senate Republicans would increase State Supplemental Aid to K-12 districts by just 1.75% next fiscal year. That’s not enough to keep up with inflation. It would be the eighth time in the last 10 years Republicans approved an increase that falls short of inflation, according to Common Good Iowa.

Republicans approved billions of dollars in income tax cuts. Now, revenues are eroding and school districts are squeezed between tax cuts and funding for other programs, such as private school scholarships.

So, this is what passes for school choice in Iowa. You say you don’t like your choices? You may be suffering from excessive exposure to rainbow flags. Treat it with ivermectin.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com