As Gov. Kim Reynolds pitched her vastly expanded plan for offering private school students publicly funded scholarships, she delivered this remarkable line.
“If we’re really going to make sure that every child has a quality education, then we have to set aside this us versus them mentality,” the governor said during her Condition of the State speech Tuesday evening.
This was exceedingly rich coming from a governor who spent a year on the campaign trail describing Iowa’s public schools as liberal indoctrination factories with “pornographic” books in their libraries, drag shows and pronoun lessons. Flee, parents, flee while you can.
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She met behind closed doors with Linn-Mar parents and politicians who oppose policies supporting transgender students. Locking out anyone with a dissenting opinion would seem to scream “us versus them.” I’ve heard from many educators who feel under siege given the Republican attacks on public education. It’s tough for them to not see this as us versus them.
It was also an astounding sentiment given that the governor spent a considerable portion of her address seeking to settle scores with her critics, “including the media and even so-called experts.”
She derided Iowans who opposed gutting a 40-year-old collective bargaining law for public employees in 2017.
“And we’ve seen employee relations improve,” Reynolds claimed, straight-faced.
Reynolds lashed out at critics of Republican tax cuts. She singled out the Associated Press for a story during the pandemic that said her “aggressive push” to reopen schools created a “tension between science and politics.”
Yep, the governor of Iowa used her biggest moment and highest-profile stage to complain about a news article she didn’t like in 2020. She repeatedly said her critics were peddling “hysteria.” The condition of the state is vindictive.
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But hey, let’s cut out all this us vs. them stuff. You first, governor.
Under Reynolds’ latest private school scholarship plan, qualifying families would get the full $7,598 in state per-pupil funding, more than she proposed last year. Although the first two years would be limited based on a family’s income level, by year three, every student in Iowa would be eligible.
How many tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that will cost is anyone’s guess. In year one, it will cost $107 million.
So for parents who need help affording private schools, including schools that better fit their “faith and moral convictions,” it’s all about money. For public schools, the governor insisted it “isn’t about money.”
She proved that in her budget, which socks away a $2 billion surplus and provides a 2.5 percent increase in state school funding. She tossed public schools assorted bones, including help for struggling school districts, but didn’t attach a dollar value. She once again argued Florida is the guiding light of education Iowa must follow.
Public schools are facing a squeeze. Private school scholarships will siphon off state funding. The bill for Republican tax cuts has yet to fully come due. Now Republicans are talking about property tax cuts.
Her critics no doubt will be dubbed hysterical. But, sure, it’s not us versus them.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
“If we’re really going to make sure that every child has a quality education, then we have to set aside this us versus them mentality,” the governor said during her Condition of the State speech Tuesday evening.
This was exceedingly rich coming from a governor who spent a year on the campaign trail describing Iowa’s public schools as liberal indoctrination factories with “pornographic” books in their libraries, drag shows and pronoun lessons. Flee, parents, flee while you can.
Advertisement
She met behind closed doors with Linn-Mar parents and politicians who oppose policies supporting transgender students. Locking out anyone with a dissenting opinion would seem to scream “us versus them.” I’ve heard from many educators who feel under siege given the Republican attacks on public education. It’s tough for them to not see this as us versus them.
It was also an astounding sentiment given that the governor spent a considerable portion of her address seeking to settle scores with her critics, “including the media and even so-called experts.”
She derided Iowans who opposed gutting a 40-year-old collective bargaining law for public employees in 2017.
“And we’ve seen employee relations improve,” Reynolds claimed, straight-faced.
Reynolds lashed out at critics of Republican tax cuts. She singled out the Associated Press for a story during the pandemic that said her “aggressive push” to reopen schools created a “tension between science and politics.”
Yep, the governor of Iowa used her biggest moment and highest-profile stage to complain about a news article she didn’t like in 2020. She repeatedly said her critics were peddling “hysteria.” The condition of the state is vindictive.
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But hey, let’s cut out all this us vs. them stuff. You first, governor.
Under Reynolds’ latest private school scholarship plan, qualifying families would get the full $7,598 in state per-pupil funding, more than she proposed last year. Although the first two years would be limited based on a family’s income level, by year three, every student in Iowa would be eligible.
How many tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that will cost is anyone’s guess. In year one, it will cost $107 million.
So for parents who need help affording private schools, including schools that better fit their “faith and moral convictions,” it’s all about money. For public schools, the governor insisted it “isn’t about money.”
She proved that in her budget, which socks away a $2 billion surplus and provides a 2.5 percent increase in state school funding. She tossed public schools assorted bones, including help for struggling school districts, but didn’t attach a dollar value. She once again argued Florida is the guiding light of education Iowa must follow.
Public schools are facing a squeeze. Private school scholarships will siphon off state funding. The bill for Republican tax cuts has yet to fully come due. Now Republicans are talking about property tax cuts.
Her critics no doubt will be dubbed hysterical. But, sure, it’s not us versus them.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: The Condition of the State is vindictive
But, sure, it’s not us versus them.
www.thegazette.com
