Supportive educators help kids thrive. That's not indoctrination.

Within the School of Education at Drake University, where I have the privilege of serving as dean, we prepare graduates to create inclusive classrooms and school cultures.

Our graduates do not push a political agenda, but instead create learning communities that foster academic success and civic engagement — two primary educational objectives.

To be clear, inclusivity does not equal indoctrination.

Earlier this year, I visited classrooms to see our student teachers in action. At Des Moines North High School, I listened to vocal music students sing the traditional African American spiritual “I’m Building Me a Home,” and “Oye,” which was sung entirely in Spanish.

Each of these lessons included rigorous, age-appropriate content and validated students’ diverse backgrounds; none of them were designed to force students to adopt the teachers’ beliefs or values. The only implied ideas were, “I see you. You matter.”

For the good of all students, teachers should be allowed to take the same approach with issues of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Multiple bills advanced by the Iowa Legislature would ban schools from providing any materials or instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation in primary grades. This legislation would have a negative impact on vulnerable students and on the education profession.

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 70% of LGBTQ students “experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year and more than 50% had poor mental health during the past 30 days. Almost 25% attempted suicide during the past year.”

Research demonstrates the positive impact schools and teachers have on mitigating these outcomes. One national study, which is representative of other scholarship on this topic, found that students with supportive educators earned better grades, felt a greater sense of belonging, and experienced fewer negative outcomes like absenteeism, harassment, and assault because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to Teach Iowa, the state currently has more than 1,500 open full-time teaching jobs. Making teaching less attractive will not fill these positions. When laws impacting schools take a prohibitive and punitive approach, it eliminates school as often the only venue for some students to receive the life-saving care and support they need. Such laws make teachers fearful to address issues that impact students’ well-being and add one more reason for potential future educators to cross teaching off the list of career possibilities.

When we trust teachers to design instruction and use evidence-based curricular materials that meet the needs of all students, we create a virtuous cycle: teachers’ job satisfaction increases as they are empowered to use their professional judgment, students feel a sense of belonging as their identity is acknowledged and valued, and future teachers see teaching as an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of their students.

This is a matter of policy, not politics. As former director of the Iowa Department of Education, I know the well-being of kids is an issue on which we can unite as Iowans to address.

Ryan Wise is dean of the School of Education at Drake University. He was director of the Iowa Department of Education from 2015 to 2020, under Gov. Terry Branstad and Gov. Kim Reynolds.

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