Thoughts on school bill
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A recent piece published by the Mount Ayr Record News highlighted the problems with the Iowa legislature considering a bill that would allow parents to choose their children’s place of education. In doing so, the legislature would grant a parental reallocation of per student funding to a private school of their choosing rather than automatically funneling tax dollars into the public system as is currently the case.
This was considered a problem by the opinion author. The reasoning behind this concern vacillated between the devastation this law would enact upon the public systems ability to deliver a quality education, to the separation of church and state argument implied by some that the law would overlook.
Neither argument manages to look at the primary genesis of this legislation.
Parents are forcing the issue of school choice not so much on academia, rather it is a referendum on the school condition. In other words, the parents are not in favor of the environment the students are being exposed to which has garnered front page attention across the nation.
Political ideology, indoctrination, loss of focus on the tasks charged with the educators are all reasons this funding issue has forced its way onto the governor’s desk. Parents represent a powerful voter base which no politician wants to forfeit. On the other hand, the teachers’ unions are an equally important body that can’t be ignored if for no other reason than their powerful lobby and bottomless pocket depth.
So, where does that leave this conundrum? The answer is simple…Treat the disease not the symptoms. Stop allowing the use of schools and their systems as bully pulpits. This includes social issues usually charged with emotion that have precious little to do with education. Teachers’ personal agendas must be limited to approved curriculum and no more. Classrooms are not galleries for political displays regardless of the community makeup or political pressures. Infiltration of school sports by opposing sexual orientation needs to be eliminated. And perhaps a better use of revised funding to public schools might be to redirect budget to school security.
Public schools have been the cornerstone of this country for decades and decades. Only when political ideology crept its way into the system did the quality of the education experience begin to erode. This problem was not specifically budget driven but rather a collapse under the pressures of wokeness which is the epitome of social destruction.
Elected officials are charged with the responsibility of representing their citizens and giving their voices volume. They are not, however, responsible for instilling virtue and respect into today’s students. That’s the parents’ job. This too is a disease versus symptom challenge that no amount of funding manipulation can eliminate.
There is a reason you start with the ABC’s. Without a reliable foundation no system can survive either at home or at school. Treat the disease!
Jeff Snyder
Mount Ayr