“School choice” sounds great. Who doesn’t like choices?
Well, Republicans running Iowa, that’s who.
You’ve probably read about how lawmakers have been threatening state universities with hell fire and brimstone if they fail to eradicate all vestiges of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. It makes white GOP lawmakers uncomfortable.
They also want an independent School of Intellectual Freedom on the University of Iowa campus. You don’t have to be much of an intellectual to realize this is a Trojan Horse full of disgruntled authoritarians eager to conquer the campus.
Meanwhile, Under the Golden Dome of wisdom, now redder than an empty box of Valentine’s bonbons, House Republicans advanced a bill that would bring the same DEI hysteria to Iowa’s private colleges and universities.
Private colleges and universities that refuse to jettison diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programs would lose access to Iowa Tuition Grant bucks. The grants help students who qualify pay for private higher education.
If kids need a tuition grant to pay tuition, they won’t be able to attend a private campus that hasn’t surrendered to GOP edicts. They may want to attend a school educating kids for the diverse world as it exists. Not in this state.
So, you can send your young scholar to a whitewashed state university or to a private college or university bullied into whitewashing through legislative extortion. Choice!
Sorry, parents and kids who don’t subscribe to the rigid worldview of Trump-era conservatives will need to look out of state. Although they may find other institutions too frightened by the president’s executive orders to resist.
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Well, Republicans running Iowa, that’s who.
You’ve probably read about how lawmakers have been threatening state universities with hell fire and brimstone if they fail to eradicate all vestiges of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. It makes white GOP lawmakers uncomfortable.
They also want an independent School of Intellectual Freedom on the University of Iowa campus. You don’t have to be much of an intellectual to realize this is a Trojan Horse full of disgruntled authoritarians eager to conquer the campus.
Meanwhile, Under the Golden Dome of wisdom, now redder than an empty box of Valentine’s bonbons, House Republicans advanced a bill that would bring the same DEI hysteria to Iowa’s private colleges and universities.
Private colleges and universities that refuse to jettison diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programs would lose access to Iowa Tuition Grant bucks. The grants help students who qualify pay for private higher education.
If kids need a tuition grant to pay tuition, they won’t be able to attend a private campus that hasn’t surrendered to GOP edicts. They may want to attend a school educating kids for the diverse world as it exists. Not in this state.
So, you can send your young scholar to a whitewashed state university or to a private college or university bullied into whitewashing through legislative extortion. Choice!
Sorry, parents and kids who don’t subscribe to the rigid worldview of Trump-era conservatives will need to look out of state. Although they may find other institutions too frightened by the president’s executive orders to resist.
Opinion: School choice in Iowa leaves us no choices
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds reacts before signing a bill that creates education savings accounts, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, at the …
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