DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa's 2023 education law continues to pose questions about its future, but the latest decision to lift the preliminary injunction came nearly two weeks before many students will be back in the classrooms.
Teachers are on the clock now to implement the enforceable law that removes books from school libraries depicting sex acts and prohibits discussion over gender identity through sixth grade. Now, schools must implement these changes for the school year and some claim there has been confusion along the way.
The Iowa State Education Association says schools and teachers are confused about the implementation of the new law and claims there is a lack of clarity from the state.
"I think there was a general sense of disappointment that so close to the beginning of the school year, we're heading again into a whole bunch of unknown questions," said Joshua Brown, the President of the Iowa State Education Association or ISEA.
Before the injunction, school districts claimed they were navigating the implementation with little guidance. This resulted in concerns over schools possibly removing more books than necessary and making changes that received backlash. ISEA told Local 5 last summer there could be some 'unintended consequences.'
ISEA is working to support teachers during this time, Brown says "we're telling our members not to overreact, and not to start removing everything that that might be questionable or might have any problems from their shelves."
Ankeny School District says it is currently reviewing the implications of the injunction, adding "the district will ensure compliance with state law by capitalizing on the work completed in 2023 when this law first took effect."
The Johnston Community School district is picking up where it left off in 2023 and is planning to remove books:
In May 2023, the district began reviewing its great volume of books in an effort to comply with the new state law, organizing books using a stoplight approach — “green light” for those in compliance, “yellow light” for those in question, or “red light” for those not meeting the expectations of Senate File 496. No lists were generated, and we have not until now removed any books, as we waited for the outcome of the court proceeding.
Des Moines Public Schools says it is working with its legal counsel on the next steps.
Brown says other school districts are also following its' legal counsel's advice. ISEA also says it is possible schools will take similar actions they took before the law was blocked.
"I think that's where districts are kind of forced to be, is they were left off before the injunction, they were trying to figure this out without guidance and now they're doing the same again," Brown said.
ISEA says its hope is that teachers continue doing what they need to do and not worry about the law, advising teachers to listen to their district administration.