With the legislative session over halfway done, new troubling signs are emerging for Iowa public schools. Waterloo announced $10 million in budget cuts with 60 staff positions cut. The Orient-Macksburg public school district is dissolving after this school year and Pella is facing budget ...
Watch parties are being held around the state the first weekend in April — and not just for the Final Four of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. This “big dance” is a sure thing for everyone in the state — a coming-out party for the state’s newest namesake ...
In celebration of National Ag Week I am reminded of the Thomas Jefferson quote. “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.” Most of our ancestors were some sort of farmers. Today though, farmers make up less than ...
On June 4, 2024, an op-ed I penned (Project 2025’s threat to democracy) was published in The Fulcrum, a national non-partisan social media platform. It received over 74,000 views and landed as one of the top 10 most read op-eds – out of 1,460 – published in 2024. The op-ed identified ...
Years ago, a contest was run for the most boring newspaper headline. The winner was “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative,” which appeared in the April 10, 1986, edition of The New York Times. “Worthwhile initiative” is a snooze-worthy phrase. Adding a reference to the quiet and restrained ...
It hasn’t been a good news cycle for Iowa’s public schools recently. The Waterloo Community School District announced budget cuts of over $10 million for their upcoming school year. Then I saw that the Cedar Rapids Community School District is facing a $12 million budget deficit and is ...