On Nov. 7, you get to vote for four candidates to sit on the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) School Board. As a departing board member, I take this vote seriously. Only four of the seven candidates represent the best interests of the ICCSD: Molly Abraham, Mitch Lingo, Charlie Eastham, and Lisa Williams. Lingo has the expertise and passion for school board. Abraham, Eastham, and Williams currently serve on the board. While we don’t agree on everything (no effective board does), I guarantee these four candidates prioritize:

• Giving all 14,500 students, regardless of religion, income, race, identity, neurodiversity, and physical ability, the best educational opportunities in Iowa.
• Striving to meet the needs of every student through sophisticated curriculum choices brought to students by the most qualified and dedicated teachers in the state.
• Navigating politically driven laws so that our students continue to learn in a healthy and safe environment.
• Collaborating with community stakeholders to make all children kindergarten-ready, including with full-day preschool pilot programs.
• Investing in beautiful spaces for art, music, and athletics, so that the ICCSD is a destination district for people moving to or within Iowa.

We have been inundated with political vitriol against public education, but the fact remains: A community is only as strong as its public schools. The ICCSD continues to create a welcoming and innovative second home for thousands of children. Abraham, Lingo, Eastham, and Williams are committed to serving the ICCSD. Please use your vote to support public education on Nov. 7 (early voting begins Oct. 18).

Submitted by current ICCSD School Board Director, Maka Pilcher Hayek

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