My grandson and I go to a lot of Marvel movies. Before the feature, there’s always coming attractions. By the eighth trailer, we’ve found the bottom of our popcorn, our drinks are gurgling empty, and the coming attractions seem to look alike.
During what should have been the three coldest, snowiest months in Iowa, my wife and I escaped to Florida, the land of Iowa legislative “coming attractions.”
Iowa is quickly becoming the Florida of the Midwest minus, beaches, palm trees, alligators, and year-round sunshine. Once our state kicked off presidential elections for both parties, opened its arms to immigrants, recognized people had a right to marry the ones they loved without regard to gender, and had leaders who truly believed public education was the foundation the state was built upon.
Now, with no research, no questions, no creativity and no public input, Iowa lawmakers too often mimic the Sunshine State.
While auditioning for the presidency, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis declared “a war on woke.” Like Iowa, Florida Republicans control both chambers of the legislature, and so it began passing a menu of laws DeSantis proposed.
Florida passed laws against the teaching Critical Race Theory, even though no one could clearly define it, and no one could identify a public school where it was taught.
DeSantis and his Legislature targeted books they regarded as pornographic in public schools especially those with LGBT themes. Classics like the Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird soon began disappearing from school curricula because schools were conflict adverse.
Florida rewrote the social studies curriculum with their own Republican spin.
Trans students became the next target. Florida passed a law that bans gender affirming medical care for minors. The Parental Rights in Education law critics dubbed the “Don’t say Gay law” banned discussion and instruction of any gender issues. Later it was modified through a civil rights settlement.
DeSantis and the legislature rolled back child labor laws. Just before we headed north, Florida passed a law that banned local counties and cities from passing ordinances guaranteeing water breaks for workers working outside in the heat.
Florida armed teachers and other school personnel and allowed schools to hire armed security guards.
Iowa’s Republican governor and her legislative lemmings were watching.
They didn’t get tired of the coming attractions. They embraced them by passing nearly identical laws.
It wasn’t a huge surprise that Gov. Kim Reynolds during the Iowa caucus campaign abandoned her MAGA idol to hug Ron DeSantis. After all, she had been enthralled by his battle to conquer “woke.”
I think she realizes the opposite of “woke” is “asleep.” She counts on bleary Iowa voters as she remakes Iowa into a place no one recognizes.
Voters need to send a message in November. It’s time for the real Iowa feature to begin and the Florida trailers to end.
Bruce Lear, who lives in Sioux City taught in public schools for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring. [email protected]
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