More meddling in schools by Iowa Republicans

Iowa lawmakers in the past couple years have taken a special interest in public school classrooms. Early this legislative session, majority Republicans are renewing that effort with a series of bills meant to restrict what teachers can teach.

Examples introduced so far seek to restrict classroom discussions of “current events or widely debated and currently controversial issues,” impose a state approval process for all social studies materials and require teachers to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day.

Each of these proposals would unnecessarily hinder education. Our history as a nation is messy and students deserve a clear view of it, even the ugly bits.

The centerpiece of this agenda last year was a law that limits diversity training in schools and other government settings, modeled after a Trump administration order about “combating race and sex stereotyping.”

Even the bills that don’t pass can tarnish our state’s reputation when we can least afford it.

Conservative policymakers apparently feel threatened by contemporary social discussions, in particular about race, sexuality and gender identity. Rather than give young Iowans the tools they need to navigate potentially difficult subject matter, they want us all to shove our heads in the sand. It’s the “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach to social studies.

It’s still early in the process, so there’s no telling whether these latest proposals will gain traction. The first several weeks of the session often feature a lot of bad ideas that never end up seeing the light of a committee hearing.

But the bill on social studies curriculum has 10 Republican sponsors, suggesting it might have legs. And ideas that falter to the legislative funnel process could still be tacked on to other bills late in session. Iowans should track their progress and be vigilant in advocating to lawmakers.

Conventional wisdom holds that politicians should be careful about leaning into divisive issues during an election year. But Iowa Republicans are bullish about their prospects under new legislative maps, buoyed by fundraising that is far outpacing Democrats. They may be able to press ahead on the most extreme parts of their agenda without paying a political price in November.

Even the bills that don’t pass can tarnish our state’s reputation when we can least afford it.

Gov. Kim Reynolds in her recent Condition of the State address spoke about the need to attract new teachers to the profession. She’s launching a teacher apprenticeship program to give high school upperclassmen an easier path to a teaching job.

These bills are no way to welcome new teachers to work in Iowa.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com