Nikoel Hytrek

House Republicans are designing their special government oversight public hearings on school book banning so that they only get input from parents who agree with them. Last week, the House Government Oversight Committee met to hear from five women who want books removed or restricted from their school libraries and curricula. Legislative Republicans decided this…

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office filed a bill Thursday that would fine school districts up to $5,000 for violating what her bill calls “parental rights” in education. The first violation would result in a written warning to a school board, and a second or subsequent violation would involve a civil penalty of up to $5,000. The…

Band and show choir kids across Iowa may have reason to rejoice this year because of a new proposal coming from the Iowa Senate Education Committee. SF161 would change language to excuse students from physical education (PE) requirements if they participate in show choir, marching band, or color guard. Previously, only students enrolled in sports,…

Rep. Luana Stoltenberg (R-Davenport) announced Monday at a “Prayer for Life” rally at the Iowa State Capitol Building that she would introduce a bill to ban abortion completely in Iowa by defining life as starting at conception. As the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported, Stoltenberg said she had three abortions as a teen, and the procedures left…

Iowa Republicans continued leaning into their obsession with LGBTQ children and school libraries during a Thursday night forum hosted by Moms For Liberty. Moms For Liberty is a right-wing organization pushing to ban books in schools nationwide and to restrict education about LGBTQ people. Targeting LGBTQ Students “There’s been a flood of mental illness, let’s…

A bill for public school funding is ready for floor debate in the Iowa Senate. Republicans on the Senate Education Committee advanced a bill on Wednesday calling for general increases to the amount of money the state gives to schools, though that language was part of an amendment to the original bill. It passed 11-5,…

Despite 20 minutes of parents, counselors, teachers, and one student explaining the ways House File 9 would hurt students, Republican Reps. Skyler Wheeler (R-Hull) and Brooke Boden (R-Indianola) passed it through the subcommittee. HF 9 could forcibly out many LGBTQ students by requiring schools to tell parents or guardians if a student asks to go by…

A new bill from the Senate would forbid the Iowa Department of Education from promoting Social-Emotional Learning in schools and put restrictions on the ability of schools to survey students about a variety of issues including their home life, their social lives and their recreation. It passed out of a subcommittee by Sens. Sandy Salmon…

Iowa House Republicans would make it a felony to “manufacture, distribute, prescribe, dispense, sell or transfer” abortion drugs in Iowa. According to House File 146, filed Monday, the bill will not include penalties for the women who take or obtain the pills, and it doesn’t include birth control. Despite abortion being legal in Iowa until…

For Sen. Izaah Knox, the new Democratic state senator for central Des Moines’ SD 17, his candidacy, his campaign and service in the Senate are a community-driven effort. “When redistricting happened for the Senate, a couple of people said, ‘oh, are you going to run for the Senate?’” Knox said. For a long time, he’d…