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Emily Piper of the Iowa Association of School Boards was the first person to speak against the bill. She provided strong opposition on behalf of the Iowa Association of School Boards.
Despite being just the third person to speak, she started her presentation saying, “it was interesting to me to listen to the discussion because I think it presents so many potential issues and problems.”
“It’s not about not letting parents know what’s going on,” Piper said. “This isn’t about teaching about how to be gay or whatever, it is about teaching history. And, if we taught a history lesson with Harvey Milk in it, who was an activist, we would have to then notify the parents every time that happened they have the right to pull their kid out of class. I think that this is very disruptive. Frankly, the procedures for opting out go far beyond what is currently required of districts with respect to human growth and development.”
The Iowa Association of School Boards is “very strongly opposed.”
“The whole approach is going to create a lot of problems with a school trying to figure out when in the curriculum do they have to notify if this is going to come up,” Piper said.
She asked if talking about current events and a presidential candidate running for the Democrat nomination who is gay would even be a conversation allowed in class without first notifying parents.
“The appropriate place to take concerns is the school board and have the discussion at that level,” she said. “Vote for somebody else for school board. We cannot erase what history is. We cannot erase current events simply because we are worried that children are being taught about those contributions. So, I really hope this bill doesn’t move forward.”
