
To the editor:
I am writing to endorse Margaret Liston for Iowa Senate District 24 and Joe Shelly for Iowa House District 47. Margaret is opposing the current senator, Jesse Green, and Joe is seeking the position now held by Carter Nordman.
I believe the current legislature and government leadership have abandoned rural Iowa. Our area needs and deserves new leadership. These individuals will represent us well.
The harm to public education is real in rural Iowa and will become more severe. The voucher program to redirect public funds to private schools is having a direct impact. Sixteen rural schools have closed in the past year.
The loss of public-school funding impacts the ability of smaller towns and rural Iowa’s ability to provide quality education, maintain facilities and sustain the overall community vitality.
Recently, many of us have received a questionnaire about general interest in starting a private school — a school that has no elected board members from the public, a school that will not be required oversight by the state department of education, a school that only takes the students it wants, avoiding the troubled or disabled students.
Liston and Shelly will promote legislation that ensures that public dollars belong in public schools.
Mary Weaver, PRO Iowa 24 Board Member
Rippey