Education

As a mom of twins attending Ankeny High School, I am passionate about supporting our schools and the amazing educators who work tirelessly to foster the growth of our kids. Ankeny deserves a state senator with a demonstrated commitment to prioritizing public education. As the former Ranking Member of the House Education Committee and current Ranking Member of the Education Budget, my north star is getting Iowa back to being #1 in education again. 

Strong public schools are the heart of Iowa’s communities. But volatile policy changes and a decade of underfunding have made it harder for kids to learn and for teachers to teach. I am deeply concerned about the number of educators and administrators leaving the profession. Recruiting and retention starts with ensuring public education is valued. It’s more important than ever that we focus on how we, as parents and community members, can be partners with our teachers and school staff to ensure all our kids have an excellent education and a safe environment in which to learn.

Last fall I led a statewide listening tour on how to best support our kids and improve public education in Iowa.The feedback included, and I have supported: meet mental health and behavior challenges, fix special education deficits, end the $1 billion voucher experiment, restore the AEAs, and restore collective bargaining for teachers to negotiate smaller class sizes, select quality resources, and mandatory prep time to reduce burnout and improve outcomes. The Legislature must show that it truly values public education with funding that exceeds the rate of inflation, and allows school districts to pay competitive wages, bring down class sizes, have safe and secure buildings, and ensure districts can offer a world-class education to all students. I am proud to have voted for an increase in teacher and associate pay, but I know Iowa can do better. You can learn more about the the results of the listening tour and my thoughts on how we get Iowa back to #1 here.

I also believe we need to address the ever-expanding role of technology in the classroom, particularly when it comes to our youngest learners, because not all EdTech is created equal. Neuroscientists and educators are telling us that there is an over-reliance on the use of digital technology in the classroom. To be clear, it’s not being anti-tech; it’s pro-learning with teachers at the center. It’s not getting rid of tech; it’s making sure tech supports learning rather than supplanting it. Teachers are the human connection our kids need for deep learning and critical thinking. This year, I was proud to introduce, in partnership with one of the most conservative members of the House, a bill to limit screen time using one-on-one devices in elementary school (including exemptions for IEPs, 504s, assistive & adaptive technology, some testing and progress monitoring. Time limits do not apply to technology specific instruction or to virtual/online school.). The bill received strong bipartisan support and passed the Education Committee. A version of it was later added as an amendment to the Governor’s MAHA bill and passed into law in the final days of the session.  While I wish this issue had been considered and debated as a stand-alone bill because it is a big issue to tackle, I am really excited to see progress on better supporting our kids’ cognitive brain development as supported by neuroscience and educational research. 

School funding also needs to keep up with changing circumstances and I am proud to focus on equity. During my time in the House, I have introduced legislation for a working group to study the impact of poverty on the school funding formula and make recommendations to the Legislature on how we can make funding more equitable within and across school districts. Over the years, the bill(s) have received strong bi-partisan support but we haven’t been able to get it across the finish line yet. I look forward to continuing this effort in the Iowa Senate.

During my time in the Iowa House, I have fought against vouchers that send public dollars to private schools, the short-sighted dismantling Iowa’s gold-standard Area Education Agencies, the demonizing of our public and school libraries, and the culture war politics that has unfortunately defined the bills coming out of the Education and Higher Education committees that last several years. 

As a member of the House Higher Education Committee, I know that our commitment to public education doesn’t end at high school graduation. We also need to ensure that our regents universities and community colleges, like DMACC based here in Ankeny, have the resources they need to equip students with the education and skills needed in our ever-changing workforce. I am proud to have co-sponsored legislation to make college more affordable for Iowa families.