by Guest Post | 12 02, 2023 | COMMUNITY, EDUCATION COMMUNITY, EDUCATION POLITICS
In the fall of 1972, I was a shy ninth-grader entering Mt. St. Ursula in the Bronx. My legal name was Mary Bernadette, but I always went by my middle name, Bernadette. The first day of classes, teachers had us standing in the front of their rooms until our names were...
by Nikoel Hytrek | 11 30, 2023 | EDUCATION POLITICS, POLITICS
A second lawsuit against portions of an education law passed by Iowa Republicans and signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds just dropped this week. Penguin Random House, a major US book publisher, filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging SF 496 for banning some of the publishers’...
by Nikoel Hytrek | 11 16, 2023 | COMMUNITY, LOCAL PEOPLE
Annie’s Foundation, a nonprofit group started by Iowans to spread the word about book banning and give those books away, is hitting the road—and coming to Western Iowa for the first time. On Saturday, Nov. 18th, Annie’s will hold an event from noon to 2 p.m. at...
by Ty Rushing | 11 08, 2023 | EDUCATION POLITICS, ELECTION POLITICS, POLITICS
Candidates backed by Moms for Liberty, an organization that has supported private school vouchers, anti-LGBTQ legislation, and book bans in Iowa, lost in school board races across the state Tuesday. Since its inception, Moms for Liberty has helped fuel national...
by Nikoel Hytrek | 11 07, 2023 | EDUCATION POLITICS, ELECTION POLITICS, POLITICS
In a room packed with supporters, candidates, Johnston residents and plants, cheers rose up as Jason Arnold and Lya Williams won two of the four open seats on the Johnston School Board while incumbents Soneeta Mangra-Dutcher and Jennifer Chamberland retained their...
by Amie Rivers | 11 07, 2023 | EDUCATION POLITICS, ELECTION POLITICS, POLITICS
Though the largest school bond in state history failed, three out of four sitting Cedar Rapids school board members kept their seats, with only the District 4 seat changing hands. Seven board members serve staggered four-year terms. Four of those (two at-large as well...
by Ty Rushing | 11 07, 2023 | EDUCATION POLITICS, ELECTION POLITICS, POLITICS
For more than a year, outrage over a policy to protect transgender and nonbinary students hung a black cloud over the Linn-Mar School District, but Tuesday’s school board elections served as a referendum for supporters of the policy that was later gutted by state...
by Amie Rivers | 11 07, 2023 | EDUCATION POLITICS, ELECTION POLITICS, POLITICS
Two incumbents and a progressive candidate endorsed by both the teachers’ union and One Iowa were voted onto the Waukee school board Tuesday. Three school board seats were open this year. Current board president Wendy Marsh took the most votes, with an even...
by Ty Rushing | 11 07, 2023 | EDUCATION POLITICS, ELECTION POLITICS
Three left-leaning candidates and a moderate defeated a three-person conservative bloc to win four open seats on the Dallas Center-Grimes School Board, according to Tuesday’s unofficial results. There were two at-large seats open and three candidates. Incumbent Ryan...