Smith says state leadership ‘intentionally devalued educators’

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ras Smith said Saturday the leadership in the State of Iowa has stolen teachers’ joy and has “intentionally devalued educators” by overwhelming their job descriptions and telling them what they can and cannot teach, which he suggested ends up hurting students in the process.

“When we put all these overburdensome standards and expectations on teachers to do all these things outside of teaching our students, we’re setting them up for failure,” Smith told Newton News. “If our educators don’t feel successful, our students can’t be successful.”

As a ranking member of the Iowa House education committee, to see Iowa going backwards with legislation that bans voluntary diversity plans is “problematic” and is not in line with the state’s heritage, he said; especially when one-fourth of the student population in Iowa is non-white.

The efforts to erode the foundation of Iowa’s public school system, he added, is intentional; the elimination of bargaining rights and the threats to Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) were not accidents or coincidences. Neither were the pulling away of resources for schools and teachers.

“We’re going to force you into a situation where you’re desperate and you don’t know what to do and hopefully the system implodes on itself,” Smith said of the situations teachers are facing. “Our teachers need support. They need to be able to focus on teaching our students and removing the barriers to success.”

For Smith, that means implementing more social workers to manage the social-emotional learning that students are going through. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds wanted kids back in school because of the mental health needs, but Smith said the state never addressed those needs.

“That is a real issue that the governor and I will agree on: Our students are undergoing extreme brain health and traumatic experiences every day,” Smith said. “We have to address it though and not just talk about it and force kids back into the school building where we’re not supporting those needs.”

If legislators want students to be back in school for those reasons, Smith said it’s up to lawmakers to address those concerns and make sure resources are there.

The value of education as a profession may be dwindling, Smith suggested. Teachers don’t feel valued and feel like they can’t contribute, which Smith said is baffling to him because they’re going above and beyond every day and jumping over hurdle after hurdle.

“We’re moving the goal post but they still keep kicking the ball and making it. But, eventually, when can you not expect that anymore?” he said. “We can’t get to the point where our educators no longer want to do this work. If they do that, who’s going to? What are parents going to do? What will the workforce look like?”

Recently, Smith unveiled his education plan, which includes — among a number of things — reduced class sizes, increase school support personnel and prioritizing social-emotional learning and student brain health. Smith also wants to protect IPERS and innovate student loan forgiveness opportunities.

Smith is also vying for more curriculum inclusion and freedom, reducing mandated testing and restoring Chapter 20 to give educators a voice in negotiating teaching strategies, wages and workplace health and safety. Smith’s plan also rejects some of the state’s recent laws passed by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Iowa needs to stop the expansion of “for-profit” private and charter schools, Smith’s plan states, as well as reject vouchers and the diversion of millions of taxpayer dollars away from Iowa neighborhood schools. Smith also wants local school boards to serve communities without state government overreach.

TEACHERS SHARE CONCERNS AT ROUNDTABLE

Surrounded by local educators who will soon be returning to their classrooms next week, Smith led a roundtable Saturday morning at Uncle Nancy’s Coffee House in Newton to discuss his plans to bolster public schools and listen to teachers’ experiences feeling overwhelmed by state interference.

Tyler Stewart, a teacher from Berg Middle School, said he’s tired, especially after the 2020-2021 school year. Entering this next school year, Stewart thought things would be better and he’d be ready to hit the ground running. But the Delta variant of COVID-19 makes some teachers feel like they’re back at square one.

“It seems like it’s going to be another one of those years,” Stewart said. “And it’s frustrating that we’re still kicking this can down the road.

“Everything’s getting put on teachers. Parents are upset with teachers for a multitude of reasons: masks, things you talk about in the classroom. It feels like there’s more hands in my classroom than there ever (has) been. Ever.”

Mike Kremer, a teacher from Newton High School, added, “I feel like we’re just babysitters now.”

Especially when many students can’t be provided basic needs, which Kremer suggested falls on the responsibility of teachers. It’s coming at a cost, too. Standards are plummeting, Kremer said. And it may cause a ripple effect. Rather than providing education, teachers are having to fill other roles.

“This is just going to be a runaway cycle because when those kids become parents they’re going to do the exact same thing, and it’s just going to keep escalating because we don’t have any safety nets for these kids,” Kremer said. “So when they don’t get what they need, we have to provide it.”

Kremer is frustrated. As a science teacher, he wants his students to be scientists but he feels he can’t push them to the next level because he’s focused on other students who don’t have their basic needs and there’s nowhere else for the kids to get them.

Smith recalled a time when education in Iowa used to be globally competitive, but now educators facing tough barriers. Ultimately, the legislator representing Iowa House District 62 wants teachers to not feel so tired and so depleted. In order for students to be successful, the teachers need to succeed, he said.

“Education is an extremely intimate relationship because it’s about you knowing your students so well that you know when to push, you know when to let up,” Smith said. “You know when to ask that question. You know when somebody’s not raising their hand but you can tell that they need to and you ask anyway.”

Teachers’ job descriptions have to change, Smith added, which means letting them be educators again and having support systems in buildings; teachers shouldn’t be concerned about being social workers on top of everything else they do. Doing so would also reduce state overreach in classrooms.

Smith said it takes investment from the state to ensure specialized support staff are in buildings to address those needs. When educators of 20 years aren’t excited to go back to school, then model that Iowa is using right now is not working, Smith said.

Stephanie Langstraat, assistant principal of Berg Middle School, said for the first time in her career she may not be looking forward to returning to school. And it pains her to say that but she’s never felt that way. Often taking on the role of disciplinarian, Langstraat drew concerns about kids’ classroom behaviors.

Which, at this point, fall on the teachers to manage.

“Social-emotional learning’s a thing, so now we’ve put that on our teachers — even more so than what we used to,” she said. “It’s just a revolving door and there’s no answer to that.”

Smith sympathized, saying it shouldn’t be teachers’ jobs to be social workers.

“Unfortunately, it is now,” Langstraat said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com