Next up, book burnings!:
The Iowa Legislature will likely, to some extent, address the selection of school library books this session.
That’s among the hot-button education issues likely to come before the legislature in 2022.
Senate President Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel; and Sen. Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, have said they support bringing criminal charges against teachers and librarians who disseminate books Chapman and Zaun deem to be obscene.
Chapman has said he intends to propose legislation that would create a new felony offense for dissemination of obscene material to a minor.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican, said he expects a very broad conversation in general about education, including the issues Chapman and Zaun will bring to the front.
Whitver, of Ankeny, said he did not know what the end result would be.
“I haven’t seen any legislation that they may be working on or what that would look like, but over the last two years there has been an increased emphasis on education and, and parental choice and parental rights within education in the state of Iowa,” Whitver said.
Some of the passages and images in those books are disturbing, Whitver alleged, and parents have brought those forward.
Whitver said it’s his understanding schools have mechanisms in place to address such concerns, but the Legislature would likely start with seeing if that process is in place statewide, and how it is working, then go from there.
“I think we feel very strongly obviously, that, you know, pornography shouldn’t be distributed amongst a school,” Pat Grassley, the Republican House speaker, said. “However, how do we do that in a way in which, you know, the local school boards are the ones that are making sure that it’s being addressed?”
“I don’t necessarily think it’s through putting felonies or any of these kinds of things on there,” Grassley, from New Hartford, continued.
Rep. Dustin D. Hite, the Republican chair of the House Education Committee, said he also anticipates conversations among the lawmakers about the topic, including the performance of the existing review process.
Any work that is done on the floor will have to take First Amendment protections into account, Hite, of New Sharon, said.
“When you discuss libraries and that sort of stuff, there’s a big interplay with the First Amendment,” Hite said.
Democratic leaders on both floors were critical of state lawmakers taking a hand in the issue and argued there is a process in place to address concerns about books or other materials.
“The last thing that we need is to pour the gasoline of partisan politics on public education,” Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville said. “And that’s what Republicans are doing.”
House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights said the legislature’s job is to create an environment in which Iowa can grow and thrive.
“And by taking away — by opening the door to taking away — books and jailing teachers for content in the classroom — I don’t think that’s the direction we need to be going,” Konfrst said.
The process that is in place to review materials is adequate to its task, Rep. Sharon Steckman, the senior Democrat on the House Education Committee, said.
Many of the books recently questioned are Amazon best sellers, or come highly recommended or have received accolades, Steckman, of Mason City, said.
“I’m not promoting porn for our kids, of course, I would never do that, but I do think we need to leave it the way it has been,” Steckman said.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, the senior Democrat on the Senate Education Committee, said he is anticipating action on this topic.
“It’s an election year, it’s a culture war issue, and it’s the kind of thing that they want to have to gin up their base,” Quirmbach, of Ames, said.
Librarians do an outstanding job in selecting appropriate material for their clientele, including taking the age of the audience into account, Quirmbach said.
The School Administrators of Iowa is anticipating some kind of legislation introduced on the issue, Roark Horn, SAI’s executive director, said.
“It might be more broad regarding parental access to school curriculum and increased ability to challenge it rather than targeted to certain books,” Horn said.
Emily Piper, who lobbies for the Iowa Association of School Boards, said she was not aware of any legislation that would ban specific books, but there has been discussion about what process is used, and the IASB is educating lawmakers about that mechanism.
There’s already an appropriate process in place and it’s been utilized in central Iowa where decisions have been made to either remove books or to keep them as instructional materials, Piper said.
On diversity and inclusion, and mask mandates
Those interviewed were also asked about potential action on the recently enacted law that governs training on racism and sexism and diversity and inclusion efforts (HF802), as well as the law prohibiting school districts from mandating face coverings.
On HF802, Whitver and Horn — SAI’s executive director — said lawmakers are still watching to see if the law is performing as intended.
“So that like a lot of issues in the legislature, we’re just gonna wait and see what’s happening throughout the state,” Whitver said.
Piper said the IASB was helping school boards and districts navigate the legislation so they understand how it applies to them and what they can do.
She would like legislators to require the Department of Education to provide a list of resources, curriculum and materials that meet the intent of the law.
The law prohibiting masks faces a federal court challenge.
No one anticipated new action on the law while the case is pending.
The Iowa Legislature will likely, to some extent, address the selection of school library books this session.
That’s among the hot-button education issues likely to come before the legislature in 2022.
Senate President Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel; and Sen. Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee, have said they support bringing criminal charges against teachers and librarians who disseminate books Chapman and Zaun deem to be obscene.
Chapman has said he intends to propose legislation that would create a new felony offense for dissemination of obscene material to a minor.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican, said he expects a very broad conversation in general about education, including the issues Chapman and Zaun will bring to the front.
Whitver, of Ankeny, said he did not know what the end result would be.
“I haven’t seen any legislation that they may be working on or what that would look like, but over the last two years there has been an increased emphasis on education and, and parental choice and parental rights within education in the state of Iowa,” Whitver said.
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Some of the passages and images in those books are disturbing, Whitver alleged, and parents have brought those forward.
Whitver said it’s his understanding schools have mechanisms in place to address such concerns, but the Legislature would likely start with seeing if that process is in place statewide, and how it is working, then go from there.
“I think we feel very strongly obviously, that, you know, pornography shouldn’t be distributed amongst a school,” Pat Grassley, the Republican House speaker, said. “However, how do we do that in a way in which, you know, the local school boards are the ones that are making sure that it’s being addressed?”
“I don’t necessarily think it’s through putting felonies or any of these kinds of things on there,” Grassley, from New Hartford, continued.
Rep. Dustin D. Hite, the Republican chair of the House Education Committee, said he also anticipates conversations among the lawmakers about the topic, including the performance of the existing review process.
Any work that is done on the floor will have to take First Amendment protections into account, Hite, of New Sharon, said.
“When you discuss libraries and that sort of stuff, there’s a big interplay with the First Amendment,” Hite said.
Democratic leaders on both floors were critical of state lawmakers taking a hand in the issue and argued there is a process in place to address concerns about books or other materials.
“The last thing that we need is to pour the gasoline of partisan politics on public education,” Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville said. “And that’s what Republicans are doing.”
House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights said the legislature’s job is to create an environment in which Iowa can grow and thrive.
“And by taking away — by opening the door to taking away — books and jailing teachers for content in the classroom — I don’t think that’s the direction we need to be going,” Konfrst said.
The process that is in place to review materials is adequate to its task, Rep. Sharon Steckman, the senior Democrat on the House Education Committee, said.
Many of the books recently questioned are Amazon best sellers, or come highly recommended or have received accolades, Steckman, of Mason City, said.
“I’m not promoting porn for our kids, of course, I would never do that, but I do think we need to leave it the way it has been,” Steckman said.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, the senior Democrat on the Senate Education Committee, said he is anticipating action on this topic.
“It’s an election year, it’s a culture war issue, and it’s the kind of thing that they want to have to gin up their base,” Quirmbach, of Ames, said.
Librarians do an outstanding job in selecting appropriate material for their clientele, including taking the age of the audience into account, Quirmbach said.
The School Administrators of Iowa is anticipating some kind of legislation introduced on the issue, Roark Horn, SAI’s executive director, said.
“It might be more broad regarding parental access to school curriculum and increased ability to challenge it rather than targeted to certain books,” Horn said.
Emily Piper, who lobbies for the Iowa Association of School Boards, said she was not aware of any legislation that would ban specific books, but there has been discussion about what process is used, and the IASB is educating lawmakers about that mechanism.
There’s already an appropriate process in place and it’s been utilized in central Iowa where decisions have been made to either remove books or to keep them as instructional materials, Piper said.
On diversity and inclusion, and mask mandates
Those interviewed were also asked about potential action on the recently enacted law that governs training on racism and sexism and diversity and inclusion efforts (HF802), as well as the law prohibiting school districts from mandating face coverings.
On HF802, Whitver and Horn — SAI’s executive director — said lawmakers are still watching to see if the law is performing as intended.
“So that like a lot of issues in the legislature, we’re just gonna wait and see what’s happening throughout the state,” Whitver said.
Piper said the IASB was helping school boards and districts navigate the legislation so they understand how it applies to them and what they can do.
She would like legislators to require the Department of Education to provide a list of resources, curriculum and materials that meet the intent of the law.
The law prohibiting masks faces a federal court challenge.
No one anticipated new action on the law while the case is pending.
Iowa Legislature: Iowa lawmakers likely to look at school library book selection process this session
The Iowa Legislature will likely, to some extent, address the selection of school library books this session.
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