Keep Price Lab School Open

I am dismayed by recent news of UNI President Ben Allen’s plan to close Malcom Price Laboratory School. The lab school has long been a key part of UNI’s education training program. I am obviously biased, as I received a wonderful K-12 education of my own at the lab school.

I have reviewed the basic plan put forward by President Allen and I have visited with representatives of the Iowa Board of Regents. I do

not

believe that a compelling case has been made for the MPLS closure; nor has I seen any alternative plan to provide adequate classroom training opportunities for UNI education students.

In these budget times, there is no question that some budget cuts must to be made. What I cannot accept is that these cuts should be made within the education department, historically UNI’s primary mission.

Here is contact information for some of my colleagues in the Iowa House who will be influential in the decision to keep Price Lab School open. If you care about keeping the Price Lab School open, it important to reach out to your own local legislators, but especially important if you live in one of these legislators’ districts.

House of Representatives

Speaker of House Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha)
kraig.paulsen@legis.state.ia.us

House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Garner)
linda.upmeyer@legis.state.ia.us

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines)
kevin.mccarthy@legis.state.ia.us

House Education Committee Chairman Greg Forristall (R-Macedonia)
greg.forristall@legis.state.ia.us

House Education Appropriations Chairman Cecil Dolecheck (R-Mount Ayr)
cecil.dolecheck@legis.state.ia.us

Senate

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs)
mike.gronstal@legis.iowa.gov

Senate Minority Leader Jerry Behn (R-Boone)
jerry.behn@legis.iowa.gov

Senate Education Committee Chairman Herman Quirmbach (D-Ames)
herman.quirmbach@legis.iowa.gov

Senate Education Appropriations Chairman Brian Schoenjahn (D-Arlington)
brian.schoenjahn@legis.iowa.gov

My Opposition to SOPA/PIPA

Attached is a letter I have sent to Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin and Representative Boswell to voice my opposition to the Protect IP act (SOPA/PIPA). This legislation would give broad, unchecked power to the Justice Department to shut down websites without due process for the smallest of infractions. This type of law censoring the Internet would be a better fit for China than here in the United States of America.

GrassleySOPA