The education mystery in Iowa is solved

There are some mysteries difficult to solve. For example, in this classic story problem: “Train A leaves from Chicago for Toledo at 70 miles an hour. Simultaneously Train B leaves Toledo for Chicago at 60 miles per hour. The distance between the cities is 260 miles when do they meet?”

As a distracted seventh-grader I never conquered it.

After reading about the recent Iowa Republican gubernatorial primary debate there’s no mystery about why Iowa’s public schools are at risk. Four of the five candidates at the debate are sticking to an old formula that’s put Iowa public schools in jeopardy and caused teachers and future teachers to look for an exit.

The fifth candidate, Congressman Randy Feenstra, the odds-on front-runner, has strangely been skipping all debates and scheduling few public town halls.

Here’s the formula the candidates were doubling down on. Legislative meddling + chronic underfunding + public schools as a culture war weapon + unregulated private school vouchers = Iowa public schools at high risk.

Adam Steen said, “School choice options are important for creating competition. We do not have a funding problem with our public schools. We have a problem with ideology and requirements being pushed down upon our kids in public schools that are not right, that are downright evil, and they need to be wiped away.”

Zach Lahn said, “We need to wipe out the Board of Educational Examiners and put in place people that will hold teachers accountable for when they indoctrinate our kids.”

Eddie Andrews highlighted his authorship of parental rights legislation and indicated most everyone agrees on those rights.

Brad Sherman said he fully supports Iowa’s education saving accountants for private tuition and wants to expand it to homeschoolers.

Feenstra has released press statements saying, “Schools should focus on reading, writing, and math, rather than DEI and other radical ideologies.”

The unregulated private school vouchers contributed to a large budget shortfall. Although none of the candidates specified which parents should run public schools, a good guess would be parents who agree with, such as Moms for Liberty, a group holding a narrow MAGA worldview

Public schools aren’t designed for a few chosen parents to decide what’s taught but instead need to be a place where students learn critical thinking to be productive participants in a free society.

They favor private over public schools even though 91.3% of Iowa students attend public schools, and they want to intensify the culture wars.

There was no recognition that public schools have been funded under inflation for over a decade. This year the legislature is set to underfund again with a 1.75% increase.

Most Iowans are sick of having their public schools used as a weapon. They want bipartisan support for schools. Voting for any of these candidates wouldn’t be a conservative vote. It would be a reckless one.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City, IA. He has been connected to public schools for 38 years. He taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until he retired. BruceLear2419@gmail.com