The Iowa Association of School Boards published its proposed 2026 legislative beliefs. Right away, the group calls for public schools to welcome all students regardless of “gender identity.” But they don’t want just public schools to embrace the radical gender ideology concept; they also want it forced on private, Christian schools.
“We believe schools must be open and welcoming to all students, and fully accountable and transparent to receive taxpayer dollars,” the document states. “Accredited private schools who accept education savings account funds should be required to accept all students regardless of…gender identity, sexual orientation…Accredited private schools who accept education savings account funds should be held to the same standard as public schools regarding accountability and transparency.”
The Iowa Association of School Boards also said that state law currently provides “sufficient choice.”
“Additional investments in tax credits for nonpublic tuition or other options are not necessary to provide educational choice,” the document says.
The document also states that the organization opposes state policies that:
*establish education savings accounts, vouchers or any other program that uses taxpayer dollars to fund private schools;
*provide direct payment of taxpayer funds to private schools, parents or for homeschool education;
*increase tax credits or deductions directed toward private schools or homeschool education;
*expand the state’s educational savings account program to students who are receiving competent private instruction or independent private instruction.
Just passing laws prohibiting the propagation of gender identity will never be enough without severe penalties for violating. When is our GOP trifecta going to get serious about eradicating gender identity? Perpetrating any form of this crime on minor children should face some sever consequences. A Class-C sexual abuse charge carries 10 years in prison. And promoting gender identity is just as serious if not more so. Too many legislators want to appear doing the right thing while providing a way of escape for offenders. I hope the 2nd session of the 91st GA will produce penalty legislation to go with laws passed in the 1st session.
The key to understanding the IASB is that their priority is not educating students, it is monopolizing tax dollars and inhibiting the successful competition. Never mind that its ethos violates their being “welcoming of all students” by teaching and enabling anathema, suppressing some students ‘truths” in favor of others. forcing compliance against long held cultural objection, en loco parentis at every turn.
The IASB operates ultra vires of legislative directives, abusing power and authority, pretending support for what amounts to warped ideology intent on warping the young accordingly. Many member’s transparency is at best only after FOIA demands that they interminably slow-walk (besides corrupting their actual performance record). Talk of “standards and accountability” by them is a sick joke. They have presided over declining standards and scores.
To the extent that the IASB is an apparat that if it reflects actual member school boards, it is simply the Des Moines School District writ large. Or it is simply about funding sinecures and not education. If smaller member districts do not agree with these ISBA pronouncements and issue no disclaimers or objections they are part of the problem.
County Republican operations need to invigorate education platforms, find and promote candidates consistent with those, operate as a PAC or through Party auspices as there is nothing to prevent it, and get good people elected. It is what the left does. Those that educate the children win the culture.
Of note is this article appearing this week in The Federalist
https://thefederalist.com/2025/11/07/des-moines-election-proves-once-again-you-cant-fix-stupid/
Basically similar situation prevailed in Davenport. For lack of candidates incumbents win who largely preside over the deterioration in education. Had the Des Moines scandal with all its implicationsg broke earlier maybe some would have stepped up (there and elsewhere).
Now TIS has done yeoman work in exposing how bad the education bureacracy and unions are and promoting education reform and that by inference at least that the biggest part of the problem is Democrats. The Democrat machines understand and crank out candidates and voters in the various school districts and through their bureacracy oppose effective reform and competition in support of their ideology. They need to be defeated to reestablish trust in “public education” even though the concept vis-a-vi private education ought have no presumptive claim to the public purse when the goal is educating children with basic standards.
If that concept sounds shocking consider that we use tax dollars to buy most of our defense capability from private suppliers, same for health care, same for our nutrition. We do not have public employees grow our food and it is not required that public employees grow the educational capabilities of our children.
Let’s look even further upstream at NSBA, National School Board Association. They are radical and responsible for indoctrinating our school board members. We’ve wondered how is it that all these school board members across the nation are so hostile to parents and passing things that are deeply harmful to children? Like don’t they have children and grandchildren? Where are the adults in the room? Look at NSBA. If your local school board has membership in this and is sending those members to their conferences, request that they withdraw. Our tax dollars are being used to fund this and further deteriorate the public education system. Then look at SEL, Social Emotional Learning, that is being used in most public schools AND being funded by tax payers. This is the delivery system to turn our children into activists for leftist ideologies. And it is very sneaky, a Trojan horse if you will. At the state level, we need to not only go after DEI, CRT and all that, but SEL which is the system that prepares children’s minds to absorb any current or future social contagion. So going after those other things is fine but kind of like playing whack a mole. Even the roots and origins of SEL is extreme and amounts to government sponsored religion…new age religion. To see info on NSBA, go to: https://courageisahabit.org/#strategies and read the 2 articles about NSBA, “Wolf in School’s Clothing”. To find out more about SEL, go to courageisahabit.org. This is serious and at the root of why so much is wrong with the public schools. It’s going to take alot to root it out. I would love to see you do a whole article on this. People need to know.