Iowa Senate lawmakers advanced a bill that extends the requirement to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion teachings and training from not only regent–controlled universities, but K-12 schools and community colleges as well.
Senate File 335 would also ban training for teachers that teaches “stereotyping or scapegoating” based on the basis of demographic group or identity. Iowa teachers would also be prohibited from providing instruction on sexual orientation, gender identity, or critical race theory in K-12 schools.
The bill would eliminate DEI positions in K-12 schools and would require community colleges to comply with a law passed last year which banned DEI from regent universities.
It would also allow people to sue the school district if DEI is taught or used in training employees. Under the bill, if a school district violates an Iowa law allowing parents or guardians to control their child’s education, the parents can sue, receive attorney’s fees, and levy a $50,000 civil penalty against the school district.
Margaret Buckton, lobbyist with the Urban Education Network and Rural School Advocates of Iowa, said both organizations are registered against the bill.
She said there’s no requirement that the complaints in the bill have to be established in good faith, and the legislation would create not just discomfort but chaos in schools.
“The penalties in this legislation, they’re kind of like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer,” Buckton said.
Iowa Sens. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, and Mike Pike, R-Des Moines, voted to advance the bill, while the only Democrat on the panel, Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, spoke against the legislation.
Salmon said the bill provides more pathways to enforce restrictions on DEI and allows enforcement to be driven by parents or school employees.
Pike said the bans on DEI need additional teeth.
Quirmbach said free speech in schools is reinforced by the existing code, and this bill will not affect that.
“I think you’re anticipating that you’re going to be able to sue left and willy nilly, anything you don’t like going on in the schools,” he said. “I think you will quickly find that any money you spend on legal counsel is going to be wasted. There’s a strong defense in the code of free speech, so I see no reason to pass this bill.”
Bill repealing obscenity exemptions for public libraries, educational institutions
Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill to repeal obscenity exemptions for public libraries and educational institutions on Tuesday.
Senate File 235 would no longer allow Iowa’s public libraries and educational institutions to offer obscene material, defined as material that the average person would consider patently offensive and lacks serious literary, scientific, political, or artistic value.
Currently, Iowa Code exempts public libraries and educational institutions from restrictions on obscenity. The legislation would remove this exemption.
Iowan parents, lobbyists, and librarians packed the room, speaking in favor of and against the bill. Many pointed to the use of taxpayer dollars; those opposed to the pay warning of the cost of lawsuits falling to taxpayers, and proponents arguing taxpayer dollars should not be used to purchase and provide minors with obscene materials.
Leslie Noble, a member of the government affairs committee for the Iowa Library Association, said the organization is opposed to the legislation, as it is an “unnecessary attack on Iowans’ right to intellectual freedom under the First Amendment.”
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Noble said Iowa law already provides a clear process for addressing concerns about materials, and the legislation would remove protections for public workers who are required to meet the varied information needs of Iowans.
Noble warned that if the exemption for public libraries is removed, it opens up the possibility for anyone to sue a library repeatedly over materials they are objected to, regardless of the legal fees, which would be paid for by taxpayers.
“Do your community taxpayers want to pay for lawsuits against the library?” Noble asked the crowded room.
Director of the Cedar Rapids Public Library Dara Schmidt said librarians will have to spend time working against frivolous lawsuits, which will waste time, money, and resources. Schmidt said parents have the right to decide what is appropriate for their children, and librarians receive training and often extensive education.
“We are trained, educated, intelligent people who can make the decisions that are best for our communities,” Schmidt said. “Some of us have spent years and years in higher education learning to be professional librarians and develop collections that our communities are asking for.”
The Republicans on the panel of lawmakers, Pike and Salmon, supported the bill, while Quirmbach, the sole Democrat, was opposed.
Salmon spoke on the easy accessibility of pornography, although the legislation targets obscenity rather than pornography.
“Pornography is very easy for a minor to access. It’s both online and physically, even in libraries, as books containing pornographic material are available there,” Salmon said. “It is egregious and unconscionable that the only place in the state of Iowa where minors are allowed to get access to obscene material, pornography, is in the public library.”
Quirmbach quickly corrected Salmon, urging her to reread the legislation she introduced.
“Senator, if I may clarify, the law is against obscenity, not against pornography, and libraries are not currently allowed to have obscene material on their shelves,” he said. “Read the legal definition. Read the piece of the code that the bill addresses.”
Obscenity is not protected under the First Amendment, although pornography is generally protected. The two types of pornography not protected are obscenity and child pornography.