Iowa is losing its way on our public schools
By Randy Evans This is one of those times when people who have little appetite for politics need to pay attention — because a big change is coming that many [...]
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Posted April 21, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Posted April 06, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Ahart will be paid as much to relax fulltime as he would have been paid to work fulltime
Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart has been a lightning rod during the past three years over the way Iowa’s public schools have responded to the COVID pandemic. Ahart announced in [...]
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Posted March 28, 2022in Stray Thoughts
There’s more to being a leader than talking
Through history, some political leaders have been outstanding orators. Boy, could they talk. They knew how to mobilize and move people with their words. Think of Franklin Roosevelt and, [...]
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Posted March 14, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Lessons from a misguided pots-n-pans salesman
Many years ago, I sat at the kitchen table of a pots-n-pans salesman from Pleasant Valley. We didn’t talk about cookware. He was laying out with lots of precision why [...]
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Posted March 07, 2022in Stray Thoughts
School teaches taxpayers an expensive lesson
Des Moines Superintendent Thomas Ahart has been a lightning rod during the past three years over the way Iowa’s public schools have responded to the Covid pandemic. Ahart announced last [...]
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Posted February 22, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Here’s another place we need more transparency
There has been a lot of talk lately about why Iowa’s K-12 school districts need to be more transparent, and more accessible and more accountable, to parents and the rest [...]
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Posted February 08, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Lawmakers’ mixed message is puzzling Iowans
I’m confused, and I have a hunch I am not the only one. Are government mandates a bad thing — or are they good? My confusion comes because I hear [...]
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Posted February 03, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Iowa school debate needs a lesson in civics
A seat at the table. Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver provided that succinct explanation last week of what his fellow Republicans are looking to provide to Iowa parents [...]
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Posted January 18, 2022in Stray Thoughts
State gov’t may be harming Iowa population challenges
I stumbled across a statistical tidbit the other day that probably will surprise many people. U.S. Census Bureau figures show that between 1900 and 2000, the state that grew the [...]
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Posted January 10, 2022in Stray Thoughts
Senate change won’t better inform Iowans
Typically, in the days leading up to the start of a new session of the Iowa Legislature, the attention is on lawmakers’ goals and priorities — and on the pledges [...]
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