Are Iowa lawmakers giving up on public schools?

Missing a critical deadline to set the state's school funding is just the latest in a series of moves by Gov. Kim Reyonolds and the GOP-controlled legislature to weaken public schools

The Iowa Legislature continues to distinguish itself on education during the 2024 session.

They’ve taken the Mao Tse Tung approach to forced patriotism by considering making schoolchildren sing the national anthem each day.

They want every student from kindergarten through their senior year to view “renderings or animation” of the “fertilization process,” to root anti-abortion sentiments into children.

But when it comes to doing the one thing it’s supposed to do on the topic of education —pass a budget — they’ve failed.

They missed their deadline last week, leaving Iowa’s 328 school districts in a lurch.

Public school districts must certify their budgets by March 15. They don’t have the luxury of blowing off deadlines like our legislators.

Thus, the state’s school leaders are going to have to estimate their budgets because the culture warriors on Capitol Hill can’t get their act together amidst all the GOP virtue signaling.

That could lead to program cuts, loss of teachers, support staff for special education students, or a slew of unnecessary headaches.

Republican lawmakers, especially those facing reelection, have let their constituents know they love zygotes and the national anthem.

Yay, potential babies and America.

Message received.

Boxes checked.

Print those campaign flyers.

Post to social media something about how you love the Iowa State Fair and your reelection is a slam dunk.

Now do your jobs: Set the state funding for public schools.

A million years ago, school districts funded themselves almost entirely on property taxes.

Along came Gov. Bob Ray, a member of the long-extinct breed of Republicans known as “moderates.”

Ray thought the quality of Iowa schools should not depend on zip code.

So, he worked with the legislature to create a state funding method that would share the burden of educating our young people amongst the whole state.

Ray even got concessions from the teachers’ union: They gave up the right to strike for the right to bargain collectively.

Back in the Cretaceous era, neither teachers nor the governor and legislature could imagine a state government openly hostile to public schools.

Ah, progress.

In Gov. Terry Branstad’s second incarnation as Iowa governor, he and lawmakers stripped teachers of the right to negotiate for anything but salary.

Now, Branstad’s successor, our great and glorious leader, Gov. Kim Reynolds, and her disciples in the legislature, seem intent on dismembering public schools.

They passed vouchers to send public money to private schools.

They banned teachers from talking about gender identity through sixth grade.

They took a hard look at crushing the area education agencies.

Now lawmakers are dawdling over passing a budget for schools.

One can’t complain.

This is the Iowa a majority have voters have chosen.

I hope they’re happy with it.

Iowa was once among the best in the nation for education.

U.S. News and World Report ranked Iowa No. 13 in 2023. We had been as low as 24.

Iowans once were proud of our schools.

Now, it feels like our lawmakers and the majority of our voters consider public schools a burden not worth the bother.

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