Column: All voices count in Iowa City school redistricting debate

You can't blame parents for worrying first and foremost about how redrawing Iowa City School boundaries will affect their own children.

You even can understand why they'd take up the bulk of Q&A time at Monday night's meeting with consultants and school administrators.

A couple of hundred people showed up at Parkview Church to learn about the redistricting process and make sure their interests were being taken into account.

They wanted to be heard during this, the district's first comprehensive redistricting in nearly two decades.

Those aren't bad goals. But I'm not so worried about those parents' ability to make their wishes known or their voices heard.

I'm more concerned about the parents who weren't there - because they were working, or because they didn't get the notice, or because the edge-of-town meeting site wasn't accessible by bus.

Because last week, school board members identified four priorities for school redistricting: they want to run schools efficiently, match enrollment with building space, maintain neighborhood schools and balance out unequal demographics.

But the pockets of poverty in our communities mean those last two priorities aren't exactly compatible.

Giving more weight to neighborhood schools would result in much different boundaries than those that first would balance out off-kilter school demographics.

So which is more important? Depends on who you ask.

Right now, about 27 percent of the district's students qualify for free and reduced lunch - a common measure of poverty. But seven of the district's 24 elementary schools have rates at 50 percent or higher.

Researchers say evening those numbers out would help poorer students, who are statistically more likely to struggle in school, without negatively impacting students who already are doing well.

But it's the affluent parents who have the time, resources and chutzpah to push school leaders toward their own kids' best interests - at least what they think those interests are.

And while most likely mean well, they're savvy enough to talk about “neighborhood schools” instead of “well-to-do schools,” or “schools where all the kids look like mine.”

And then there is everyone else: Parents who also love their children and want them to do well. Kids who deserve the best education we can offer.

Their voices need to be heard, too.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact the writer at (319) 339-3154 or jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com