An open letter to Iowa educators

Dear Iowa Educators:

There’s a lot of things we clearly know are not in our best interest. We don’t follow the GPS when it leads into a river. We don’t tell our spouse he/she looks fat in those jeans, and we don’t wear an Iowa shirt into an Iowa State bar or vice versa.

It’s common sense.

Making an informed decision avoids trouble later. It’s obvious. But on Nov. 8 educators will face big choices and to avoid trouble later, we need to make decisions rooted in our best interest, because public education is on the ballot.

I’m not going to go old school and say this is the most important election ever. I’ve heard that cliché since I’ve worked in education. I’m also not going to tell intelligent, experienced, people how to vote. There’s a certain rebellious streak in all of us when someone tells us what’s in our best interest, because even if we won’t say it, we know deep down and we sure don’t need someone else telling us.

We’ve all experienced our moms or dads giving us advice, and knowing they were right, but we did what we wanted anyway just to assert our independence.

I think that happens sometimes when educators are alone in the voting booth. They know what candidate their friends or even their union leadership recommends, but in the moment, they rebel, and they throw caution to the wind. Their vote is based on loyalty to family or party, instead of their profession. Please don’t do that.

As an educator, you are a member of a special interest group. Your special interest is the kids you teach, and your profession. Some insult special interest groups, but your special interest helps your community, your state, and your country. You are the profession that makes possible all the other professions.

In my book, that’s noble.

I know lately you’ve been labeled by those wanting to destroy public education as “sinister,” “groomers,” “indoctrinators,” and “woke.” All are made up insults that lack definition because they lack facts. A teacher four states away does something wrong, and all teachers must be doing it. It’s profiling based on job title. It’s wrong, and it has caused many educators to search for the nearest exit.

Here are some things to think about as you decide your vote.

• If a politician has a record of not supporting public education, believe it. Don’t be fooled by slick TV ads or glossy brochures. If they’ve never supported public education before, they won’t now.

• Just because you’ve always been in one party, doesn’t mean you have to stay at the party until the lights go out. If your party calls you names and asks parents to doubt your skills, vote for someone else.

• If the candidate loves private schools more than public schools, and you teach in a public school, believe them when they pledge their love for private over public. Private school vouchers will destroy rural schools and damage suburban and urban districts.

• Some of you would like to ignore politics because it’s really mean and nasty. But ask yourselves if you want a to search for a piece of construction paper or count the number of copies you make while the state sits with a billion-dollar surplus and won’t fund schools adequately?

• Are you comfortable with politicians determining what’s in the curriculum instead of education professionals?

You wouldn’t go in front of a class of 30 seventh-graders without a plan. It wouldn’t be in your interest. Plan your vote. It will avoid trouble later.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to public schools for 38 years, teaching for 11 years and representing educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring.