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Op-Ed: Time to end the tug of war in
education
[The Center Square] Walt Rogers | Tax
Education Foundation of Iowa
This past Monday, U.S. District Court Judge
Robert Pratt issued a temporary restraining order stopping the
enforcement of the mask mandate ban that the Iowa Legislature passed,
and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law. This ruling sent Iowa parents
into a quandary, wondering what to do next, finding their children are
again being used in a cruel game of tug of war.
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 Iowa school districts are now reconsidering what they will, or won’t, require of
their students. Parents on both sides of the mask issue are using different data
sources and arguments to support their point of view at school board meetings
and organized demonstrations. These battles playing out in full view of everyone
are about more than just masks and COVID-19. They really all come down to asking
who is in control of our children?
That court ruling was not the only recent event that highlighted parental
concerns and frustration with public education. Republican Michael Bousselot won
a special election recently for Iowa House District 37. In winning the privilege
to represent Ankeny at the Statehouse, Bousselot made parental choice in
education a top issue; he argued that parents should decide whether their child
wears a mask and not a school’s administration.
Unfortunately, masks aren’t the only issue that has become contentious in our
schools since 2020. The rewriting of our country’s history has become a flash
point. When dueling social studies curriculums are considered, supporters of
each side have resorted to name-calling and implications of what one’s personal
value system must be, based on how they believe American history should be
taught to our children.
As this new school year got underway, stories began to emerge from schools
across the state about conflicts over gender and pronouns. Iowans have deeply
held beliefs on these issues and are now attending school board meetings wearing
T-shirts and waving signs that proclaim their competing points of view. The
problem here is that this is not a football game where we clearly have a winner
at the end of a game. This is about our children's lives, and they are the ones
caught in the middle.
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State legislators are writing laws that may help one side, while school boards
are decreeing a different set of standards. This brings us back to the cruel
game of tug of war on our children.
Is there an understanding, cooperative school board somewhere that can consider
all the points of view on these issues and then navigate a path that satisfies
everyone? Can our culture arrive at a one-size-fits-all solution on the issues
of masks, history, and gender? As we’ve watched the dialogue and discussions in
protests around the country, it appears the answer is probably not. So, how can
we move forward?
It’s time to give parents a real choice about their children’s education so they
aren’t forced to send their kids to a school with leadership they vehemently
disagree with. It’s time to adopt Education Savings Account legislation that
allows all parents, not just the ones with the financial means to do so, to
educate their children in a way that aligns with their values and beliefs.
Without real choice in education, this game of tug of war will continue to pull
our children apart, leaving them to wonder whether they should listen to their
parents or their teachers. A grassroots movement across Iowa is taking place
that has parents joining together to fight for an educational option beyond the
public school down the street.
If policymakers want to reform education and let mothers and fathers decide what
is best for their students, then it is time to break the public-school monopoly
and allow greater parental choice in education.
Walt Rogers is Deputy Director of Tax Education Foundation of
Iowa and is a former state Representative from Cedar Falls who chaired the House
Education Committee. |
