We can prevent this political storm in Iowa

There’s only silence. Waves of heat cause the blacktop to steam. Outdoor dogs slouch with snouts on sweaty paws, without raising hooded eyes. They offer no usual chase, only a feeble growl as kids peddle slowly by. The stillness envelopes newly planted corn, so if your heads cocked just right, you hear it growing. Thermometers glow 98, but it’s hotter.

Thirty miles north, thunder begins its roar, as lightning begins a fireworks show. On one channel, a young forecaster shouts dire predictions warning folks to head for the basement, an interior room, or maybe put a pot from Mom’s kitchen on your head.

A storm is coming. It’s time to prepare.

The ingredients for summer storms are simple. It’s one part heat, two parts humidity causing moisture to rapidly rise colliding with cooler air until it explodes into a storm. It’s not preventable.

But the coming Nov. 7 political storm can be stopped if we recognize the ingredients and act. Most pundits call this an off-year election. But if you care about your public school, they’re wrong.

A political storm is ignited when one party dominates with messaging fueled by wedge issues which divides and sews distrust in respected institutions like public schools.

It began during the winter when Gov. Kim Reynolds and her legislative lemmings alternated between attacking LGBTQ people and writing vague legislation to ban books in public schools while siphoning money from public schools to private school vouchers.

The final ingredient is 11 political candidates vying for the Republican nomination for president nightly flooding the airwaves with rhetoric short on facts and long on grievance.

We need to prepare now. Here are three suggestions for preventing the coming storm. First, ask hard questions that might help your community avoid candidates who create chaos instead of consensus.

• Why do you want to be on the school board?

• When was your last visit to a public school?

• How would you handle losing an election?

• Are you affiliated with any group? If you are, what is the name of the group, and how do you as a candidate differ from the agenda of that group?

• What are your priorities for the district?

• How do you feel about private school vouchers?

• Who should determine curriculum content?

• How would you get parents involved in the school?

• What should the procedure be if a parent has a complaint about curriculum?

• Do you believe parents are the school district’s customers? Why?

• How will you work as a team with the other school board members?

• Define “woke.”

Second, watch the candidates’ campaigns. If they attack existing board members from the start and never really go beyond attacking, you have candidates who are more negative than interested in protecting the future for our students.

Third, follow the money. It’s surprising how much money is spent in a school board race. Watch to see what individuals or groups contribute. Look to see who volunteers for the candidate. If it’s not clear, ask the candidate directly.

For this storm, It will take critical thinking and caring about the future for Iowa’s students.

Bruce Lear of Sioux City has been connected to public schools for 38 years.