John,

The three people who have shaped my world the most are my Grandma Fern and my parents. Grandma was a 5th grade teacher. My parents met as high school teachers, with my dad being an educator for nearly 50 years.

It’s because of them that I learned to have a great deal of respect for educators and everything they fight for. After all, people don’t become educators to enrich themselves, they do it to enrich future generations.  

And yet, Iowa Republicans have made educators enemy #1 in our state. From banning books, to taking control of school boards, to limiting what teachers can say or teach, Iowa Republicans’ attacks on our public schools are out of control. 

Iowa Republicans aren’t just trying to capitalize on the culture war against educators to appease their rightwing base. They’re going even further by trying to defund our public schools and funnel the money to private schools. This is flat out wrong, John.

Republicans in the State Senate have already passed the bill to gut public school funding. Now, the bill is waiting for a vote in the House of Representatives. We can’t let this bill pass. 

Iowa used to be first in the nation in education. But we’ve fallen behind in recent years. And now, Iowa Republicans are on the brink of robbing our public schools of the critical funding they need. 

I will always stand up for our public schools, educators and students alike. If I was in the Iowa House right now, you can bet that I’d be doing everything in my power to stop this bill from passing. 

Iowa’s students and educators deserve so much better. 

Standing Tall for All
J.D. Scholten 

If you'd like to send a check to Scholten for Iowa, please mail it to: Scholten for Iowa, P.O. Box 5351, Sioux City, IA 51102.