Glenn Branch

2 months ago | thebulletin.org | Glenn Branch |Jessica McKenzie

The federal government lacks substantial influence over what is taught in the public schools. Education is in the hands of 13,500-odd local school districts, under the guidance of the individual states—mainly through state standards, which specify what knowledge and know-how students are expected to acquire in the course of their education.

2 months ago | bleedingheartland.com | Laura Belin |Clark Kauffman |Jason Benell |Glenn Branch

Tactics for Blaine Watkins, Nannette Griffin take shape in House district 100 Saturday, Feb 15 2025 0 Comments Legislative clerk Blaine Watkins will be the Republican candidate for the March 11 special election in Iowa House district 100, covering most of Lee County. Three other Republicans also competed for the nomination at a February 13 special convention. Watkins easily won with more than 70 percent of the delegates’ weighted votes on the first ballot.

2 months ago | bleedingheartland.com | Clark Kauffman |Jason Benell |Glenn Branch |Bruce Lear

Clark Kauffman is deputy editor at Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this article first appeared. A divided Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a lower court decision and ruled that the public should have access to county-supervisor applications maintained by Scott County. The case involves the Scott County Board of Supervisors, which experienced a midterm vacancy in December 2022 when one member resigned.

2 months ago | bleedingheartland.com | Jason Benell |Glenn Branch |Bruce Lear |Laura Belin

Jason Benell lives in Des Moines with his wife and two children. He is a combat veteran, former city council candidate, and president of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers and the author of the Substack newsletter The Odd Man Out. Iowa used to be a state of Firsts. It was introduced as a free state to counter Texas as a slave state into the United States. Iowa was famous for its participation in the Civil War on the side of the Union.

2 months ago | bleedingheartland.com | Glenn Branch |Bruce Lear |Laura Belin |Arnold Garson

Glenn Branch is the deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit organization that promotes and defends accurate and effective science education. As Iowa continues the process of reviewing and revising its state science standards—which establish the goals for what knowledge and skills students in the state’s public schools are expected to attain—a remark from a famous transient Iowan comes to mind.