Education
As a mom of twins in ninth grade, I am passionate about supporting our schools and the amazing educators who work tirelessly to foster the growth of our kids. The last few years have been tough and 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.
I am deeply concerned about the number of educators and administrators leaving the profession. Recruiting and retention starts with ensuring public education is valued. In the last two years, I have spoken out strongly against school vouchers which send public dollars to private schools and the foolish dismantling of Iowa’s gold-standard Area Education Agencies. I will fight to restore the AEAs and put public dollars back in our public schools.
It’s also important to restore collective bargaining for public employees to fix the balance at the negotiating table. We must invest in our children and neighborhood schools by providing timely, adequate and equitable funding for public education. The Legislature must show that it truly values public education with funding that meets the cost 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.
School funding also needs to keep up with changing circumstances and I am proud to focus on equity. I was one of four Iowa House members to serve on the School Funding Formula Review Committee in 2019. Because of that work, I wrote a bill to form 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. The bill, HF 2370, was passed with strong bi-partisan support out of the Education Committee. Unfortunately, due to COVID, we ran out of time to get it to the House floor for a vote. I introduced the bill again in 2023 with bipartisan cosponsors and while it did not move forward, I will continue to fight for it. Along those same lines, I believe Iowa should move forward on making school lunches free for all students because if there is anything we know, hungry children cannot learn. We can do better for our kids.
Our public schools are incredibly innovative and I am passionate about sharing those experiences. I have been fortunate to volunteer with our Ankeny Schools’ Orbis program doing mock interviews, speaking with students, and providing guidance on projects. I was pleased to invite students from Orbis to give a presentation to the House Education Committee on project-based learning back in 2020. It is my hope that by promoting the creativity of our local school districts, we can inspire change and facilitate partnerships across the state that provide more opportunities for students in every corner of Iowa.
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.