What Iowans Are Watching: Zach Lahn Called Out for Attacking Public Schools
DES MOINES – On Tuesday, Council Bluffs leaders, teachers, and parents gathered to put Kansas carpetbagger and career political operative Zach Lahn on blast for attacking public education and supporting Kim Reynolds’ unaccountable private school voucher scheme. Speakers called Lahn out for being the president of an unaccredited private school in Kansas that is millions of dollars in debt, underpays teachers, and turns away students with disabilities.
Here’s what Iowans are watching and reading about Lahn attacking public schools:
KMTV: Council Bluffs educators question gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn’s commitment to public schools
- A group of Council Bluffs public educators are questioning Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn’s commitment to Iowa public schools. Iowa was consistently a top-five state in education in the 1990s. Now, it has slipped to 27th in national assessments and some neighbors worry budget cuts are to blame.
- Council Bluffs School Board Member Patrick Peters attended the press conference in a personal capacity. He says more than $300 million in taxpayer funds now go to Iowa private schools. “I think it’s really important that when a candidate says they want to expand ESAs even more, what that means to the other school districts,” Peters said.
- Lahn has also been questioned about the financial viability of a private school in Kansas he co-founded. Nonprofit news outlet The Kansas Reflector reported that Lahn has loaned the school $4.5 million.
Daily Nonpareil: Council Bluffs educators back Rob Sand for governor, criticize Iowa’s ESA program
- Speakers pointed to the rapid growth of the ESA program as a concern, particularly as more state education dollars are being directed by families attending private schools.
- Cordell said public schools have a responsibility to educate all students and argued that Iowa’s public schools need more funding. He also pointed to what he described as a decline in Iowa’s national education rankings since he began teaching in 1979.
- Lahn and his wife, Annie, helped found Wonder, a private school in Wichita, Kansas … Multiple speakers Tuesday raised concerns about the standards and requirements placed on private schools receiving public education dollars, using Wonder as an example.
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