Dear Editor,

Rural Americans gather in school buildings for community events. We might vote there. We certainly engage with the next generation there - at first, it's with our children, but then grandchildren, and if we're among the luckiest among us, our great-grandchildren.

Schools are the heartbeat of rural Iowa and of rural America. They are a source of hope, pride, and opportunity open to all.

Sara Yedlik understands how important public schools are for our communities because she's a veteran teacher. She understands how important family farming is because she grew up on a farm in Benton County. She knows how important small business is because she's seen how the ag economy fuels small businesses and how small businesses provide essential services to an area of the country feeding the world.

The single most important issue on the ballot for rural Iowans this November isn't Donald Trump. It isn't Kim Reynolds. It isn't Republican vs. Democrat. It's the role of public education in rural Iowa.

Public funding for private schools will damage our public schools - the glue that holds us together as a small rural society despite politics, despite religion, despite disabilities, despite being economically disadvantaged. Public education in rural America comes as close to the ideal of an open society enabling upward mobility as there ever has been.

The politicians championing public funding of private schools don't understand our close-knit, small-town school culture. Don't reward them with your vote, no matter what party you support. Vote Yedlik for House District 84 on November 8th.Kurt Karr

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NG October 25, 2022, 5:16 pm Kurt, I agree with what you said but right now we have an Iowa House with 60 republicans and 40 democrats. Having more democrats in the house will be good but Kim Reynolds is the one, who along with the republicans in congress will give the tax dollars to private schools. She is the one who will continue down the road she is on unless she is voted out.


I remember when Iowa was the best in the country in education. We have lost that standing as funding for education continues to be cut. We are now ranked 24th in ACT rankings.

Norma Gould
TF October 28, 2022, 10:27 pm The most practical reason why public funding of private schools is a bad idea is because any publicly funded private school has to be geographically located somewhere and the transportation system available to students attending public school would not be available. The option would only be available to families who have the means to either transport their children to and from school every day or can afford to have someone else do that for them. This excludes families where both parents work and families who can’t afford to have someone else reliably transport their children. In other words, “publicly funded private schools” is exactly what the term implies. Publicly funded but only for a few.