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The Schultz Perspective by Senator Jason Schultz (April 26, 2022)

As I wrote in Part 1 of the Education bill newsletter, the controversial provision that brings this bill to the end of session negotiations is the issue of School Choice.  SF 2369 creates a Student First Scholarship program for students at or below 400% Federal Poverty Level or students with an Individualized Educational Program with a cap of 10,000 total scholarships to be divided half and half between the 400% FPL applicants and students with an IEP.

These scholarships, or Educational Savings Accounts are a mechanism that changes the way we look at state funding of education.  Iowa is currently appropriating money to public schools, who get over $7,600 per student each year.  The way we should be looking at this is to fund the students’ themselves, not the system and wait to see how many students show up each year.

The traditional argument for school choice is that currently the public-school system has a monopoly, and introducing competition will make every school better, as they work to attract new students or not lose those who are already attending a school.  The counter argument is that public tax dollars should fund only public schools.  There is also an argument that private schools should have the same regulations as public if we are going to send tax dollars to private schools.

I believe we should be funding the student and give the parent the ability to choose the education that best fits their child.  I am also aware of many public programs where tax dollars go to a private entity for services.  Think Medicare or Medicaid, where the patient is able to go to their choice of doctor or nursing home.  But mostly I know that a one-size-fits-all system can never fit every child, even as hard as public schools and AEAs try.  There must be an exit ramp for those who need something different.

So while the old debate still exists and the players remain the same, the issue of parents’ choice in education is suddenly so much more important.  We should recognize that these positions still exist, but the issue is much deeper than that.  The discovery of toxic, progressive ideology curriculum that rejects our traditional, common values has been discovered to be more aggressive and further entrenched than anyone wanted to believe.

The Covid lockdowns, as wrong as they were, gave us an insight into parts of our public-school system that shocked many parents, policy makers, and Iowans in general.  Parents who trusted that their children were being taught in an environment that roughly paralleled the values or worldview taught at home were shocked to find that some assigned books contained illustrated child pornography and incest.  Imagine the parents’ surprise when they brought the issue to the school administrators and Board only to find it was either intentional or minimized and the offending books would remain accessibly by children.

Some Iowa schools started running whole curriculums taught through the perspective of the Black Lives Matter movement.  These racist programs identify and value people specifically by the color of our skin, teach our children that America is a horrible place and that the guiltiest group of people who must be punished are white families and their children. Those children must be programmed to apologize and stand last in line, no matter how hard they work.  I’d ask parents in western Iowa to research the 1619 project.  It seems too many are trying to teach our children much more than reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic.

After I supported the scholarship program to help lower income parents choose how their child is educated, I was challenged to point out these problems in western Iowa.  There is a two-point answer to this question.  First, it is true that this is mostly an Iowa metro problem.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t creeping in to our rural schools.  Local parents have found some of the books I mentioned in our local school libraries.  I’m still waiting to see how that issue is resolved.  But the larger issue is that this progressive ideology is firmly entrenched in our cities and it effects a huge percentage of our current and future students.  In much less than a generation this toxic worldview may be normalized through our Iowa Department of Education and Area Education Agencies, and local schools.  While your Iowa Senate Republicans continue to fight this anti-American movement, the best, long-lasting remedy is to open the range of choices to parents, regardless of income.

Public educators, including school boards, administrators, teachers, and para-educators who are doing a great job teaching children without trying to indoctrinate can best defend our public schools by cleaning up their own industry.  Call out the left-wing agitators who have taken over in the metro schools.  They can side with parents who object to obscene material being assigned or available in some schools.  When they attend continuing education or administrative group meetings, call out their troublemaking colleagues who are giving public education a black eye.  This is how you convince parents and taxpayers you are on their side.

To get a sense of how bad this problem is, go to YouTube and find the video by Accuracy in Media titled “Iowa Administrators Brag About Skirting Critical Race Theory Laws”.  Similar videos exist for most states.  The ugly secret is that many in the highest levels of public education are trying to take your children from you.  The Senate and the governor are trying to stand up for Iowa parents.  The Iowa House needs to pass our limited school choice bill.  We need your help, along with our local school employees, to win.

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