Republican State Rep. Bill Gustoff filed a bill in an attempt to protect teachers who provide instruction as it relates to foreign languages. Gustoff said two teachers have been threatened by school administrators to use gender-neutral language even though the foreign language utilizes gender-specific terminology.
One of the teachers was considering quitting her profession while the other was facing discipline after a person in the administration instructed them to figure out a way to teach gender-based language in a gender-neutral way.
Keenan Crow of One Iowa said he was “confused” about the “fundamental nature” of the bill. Crow said languages are not inscribed in stone and do not just sit there. Language, he said, is not a list of words that never changes or evolves over time.
“Languages are simply descriptions of how people use particular words in particular ways,” he said. “As those usages change and as time changes, languages adapt to the situations in which they find themselves in. Educators aren’t like making up new words. That’s not what’s happening.”
Oliver Bardwell of Iowans 4 Freedom said he supports the bill and noted there has been “a lot of confusion” around gender. He noted the importance of schools to keep such gender concepts out of the classroom and to instead focus on the basics.
Nathan Arnold of Professional Educators of Iowa said the group is undecided on the bill though it agrees intending to provide a quality, accurate education ahead of political disputes. Arnold said providing additional protections for teachers may also be an effective solution.
Democrat State Rep. Heather Matson said she has some “big questions” about the bill and wanted to know which district or districts the teachers work in where the threats were made.
Gustoff said he would not disclose that information for obvious reasons. Matson, though, said she just wanted to make sure proper channels of communication were taking place prior to bringing a bill to the state legislature.
Matson said she believes the bill is “legislative overreach” unless the stories shared by Gustoff could be substantiated.
“I would say that there are plenty of folks that deal with education in this room and care deeply for teachers and also care deeply for administrators, care deeply for students,” she said. “And if this is an actual problem that’s happening then we need to know where that’s happening in order to have a real conversation about it.”
Matson added that language is “not static.”
“Literally anyone who has teenagers as I do and they constantly come back to me with new words and stuff that I hadn’t thought of in that way before,” Matson said. “Since the beginning of human communication language has changed and evolved.”
Gustoff said the bill was not intended to address Senate File 496 from last year regarding gender identity for students.
After some research, Gustoff found 115 languages in the world that are gender-based. He expressed concern with a student’s ability to further their learning at college or communicate with someone who speaks a foreign language.
“I’m also concerned that, even if it’s possible, somebody is going to show me how it’s possible first of all, but even if it was possible then we’d have a district teaching a language that when those kids went on to college, they’re not prepared,” Gustoff said. “They can’t study French in college because they’re taught pig Latin French instead of real French.”
Matson said she is confused about what people think is being taught in such classes.
“I’m really confused about where you’re going with this,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Republican State Rep. Henry Stone joined Gustoff in signing the bill through subcommittee. Matson declined.
Common sense bill. It does no good to pretend Matson really cares about education. Anyone who has taken a language class knows Gustoff & Stone are correct.