DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowans took the opportunity to give their two cents on Gov. Kim Reynolds' controversial education law Wednesday.
Most of those in attendance were against prohibiting books and the law as a whole.
“SF 496 is having a real negative impact on students and schools across Iowa," said Tim Glaza of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.
That also included Annie’s Foundation President Sara Parris. The nonprofit aims to keep banned books on school shelves in Iowa.
"The result [of the Iowa education bill]? The removal of more than 500 books, including classic works of literature, science books and non-fiction titles from our public school system," Parris said.
Iowa veteran Michael Kelly brought in his own copy of "Slaughterhouse Five", one of the many books prohibited in Iowa schools under the law.
“The idea that the state of Iowa would ban a book that is teaching about the horrors of war is a pretty terrible thing," Kelly said.
Parts of the law are paused under a temporary injunction placed by Judge Stephen Locher last Friday. Reynolds said at the time she was "extremely disappointed" by the decision, saying in part, "There should be no question that books containing sexually explicit content — as clearly defined in Iowa law — do not belong in a school library for children."
Still, while the injunction remains in place, "Slaughterhouse Five" and many other books are legally allowed to come back into schools. But Annie’s Foundation believes that districts aren’t doing so.
“We will be trying to pressure school districts to do that while the injunction is in place, to return those materials," Parris told Local 5.
Those who spoke also argued the language in Senate File 496 is not clear enough to be understood and is instead creating a culture of fear in Iowa schools.
"There is a fearful undercurrent of being trapped by an investigation, further fueled by the vagueness of this investigation," said Margaret Buckton with the Urban Education Network of Iowa.
The public hearings are part of the Iowa Department of Education's rulemaking process and could impact the proposed rules surrounding the law. The department will hold another hearing Thursday from 10:30 to 11 A.M. at the Grimes State Office Building.