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Iowa News You Can Use

Amie bio
Amie Rivers
Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.
Feb 2026 19

WATCH: What’s siphoning money out of Iowa’s public schools?

By , | LOCAL VIDEO, COMMUNITY, Iowa Production Staff, Salina Heller

Could Iowa phase out private school vouchers someday?

That’s what a grassroots group is working toward.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) wants to get rid of vouchers and put the tax money that goes to private schools back into the public school system.

CCI is organizing people to urge their local school boards to pass a resolution that demands the governor and state legislature end vouchers, plus provide a 5% annual increase in public school funding.

So far at least 10 of Iowa’s 327 school districts have unanimously passed resolutions, including the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

That’s where Kelly McMahon is a kindergarten teacher.

✏️: Salina Heller

Iowa Production Staff - Iowa Starting Line
Feb 2026 15

WATCH: Schools are shortchanged in the heartland

By , | POLITICS VIDEO, POLITICS, Iowa Production Staff, Salina Heller

If you live in Iowa, you know public school funding is a hot topic.

Educators warn of a “funding crisis” as state aid lags behind inflation. How much of a lag? State aid is now $888 less per student than it would have been if kept in line with inflation. That’s not $888 of new money—it would have been just enough aid to keep up with current expenses with inflation.

And it seems that things are about to get worse. For the upcoming school year, the Iowa Senate proposed a 1.75% increase in state aid. Gov. Kim Reynolds recommended 2%. Both fall short of the 5% increase requested by the Iowa State Education Association to keep pace with rising costs.

✏️: Salina Heller

Iowa Production Staff - Iowa Starting Line
Feb 2026 10

WATCH: Iowa Mennonites hold ‘Sing Down the Doors at Target’ protests against ICE

By | POLITICS VIDEO, POLITICS, Iowa Production Staff

Iowa Mennonites and supporters joined nationwide protests calling for Target, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, to publicly oppose the violent actions of ICE and federal agents in Minnesota.

Mennonite Action, a national organization with local chapters in Johnson, Washington, and Iowa counties, has been organizing to call for an end to the military occupation of Palestine. The “Sing Down the Doors at Target” protests were also meant to link “military-style” violence in America and Palestine.

“We are distraught by the hijacking of Christianity to justify hate and division,” Aliese Gingerich of First Mennonite Church of Iowa City said in a press release. “Christian nationalism is not Christlike. It has nothing to do with the teachings and the example of Jesus Christ, who called us to love our neighbor and to care for the vulnerable—from Palestine to Minnesota to Iowa City.”

Iowa Production Staff - Iowa Starting Line
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