Buckle up buttercups! time!

& I’m going to channel some David Rose energy to talk about a bill in the Iowa legislature this week (in subcommittee Monday 1/25).

Which bill? This one, demanding 100% in-person instruction for Iowa schools.

Iowans, please click on the link and register opposition to the bill.

If you like, you can copy and paste or revise my words, threaded below for easy access.

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/committees/subcommitteePublicComments?meetingID=32370&action=viewCommitteePublicComments

I strongly oppose this bill because it represents governmental overreach that disrespects our elected school boards. In addition, this bill fails to address three factors that make 100% in-person learning irresponsible and/or outright dangerous:

http://1.No  teachers or secondary students in our county have been—even partially—vaccinated yet.

2.Schools in large districts cannot provide socially distanced classrooms with 100% in-person learning. In fact, these schools cannot provide socially distanced hallways, lunches, or bathrooms with 100% in-person learning.

http://3.To  meet the draconian timeline proposed, secondary schools will have to reshuffle staffing in the middle of a term, a nearly impossible feat.

Finally let me say, this bill seems like an attempt to rush a process that would happen quite organically over the next few months, given that the vaccine is here.

We can end must wait to make this change until we can do so safely and fairly for everyone? /fin