Letter: Our loss will be the state’s gain

I am pleased to see that Amy Nielsen is seeking election to the Iowa House for District 77. Rep. Sally Stutsman has been a tireless advocate for public education in Iowa and I can think of no better person to continue that work than Nielsen.

I first met Nielsen during her involvement with the Walking School Bus in North Liberty, a program that grew out of necessity from continual state underfunding of education. Since then, she has continually been a strong advocate for timely and adequate funding for our schools as well as close coordination between North Liberty and the school district.

Since being elected to serve North Liberty as mayor, she has faced a number of difficult challenges and has served her community with distinction. During that time, she has continued to focus on the children of the region by chairing the ICCSD Equity Advisory Committee and she serves on the Community Education Districtwide Advisory Council.

She has a natural ability to listen closely in order to understand problems and then, as with the Walking School Bus, works to propose and implement solutions. She builds consensus through collaboration and values the process it takes to chart a path forward. She understands the challenges brought on by education underfunding as well as the intricacies of school funding in Iowa. While I will be sorry to see Nielsen move on once elected, I know that our loss will be the state's gain.

Brian Kirschling

Iowa City