MARION, Iowa (KCRG) - A social media post made by a Linn-Mar School Board member has a handful of people calling for her resignation.
The post made by Rachel Wall last month has hundreds of comments. The post says:
During the first school board meeting since Wall posted the message, people came out both to support and to criticize.
“You’re leaning to the side of promoting social narratives more than you are education,” said Sean Sanford, a community parent who spoke at the meeting.
Public comment referenced everything from the Bible to Vladimir Lenin. “The problem with the original statement, and with perhaps especially with the follow-up, is that it’s fundamentally Marxist,” said Nick Hall, another community parent.
Wall made the follow-up that Hall referenced a few hours after the original post.
Wall’s comments, and the controversy that followed, come amid huge shifts in education in Iowa, including the law Governor Reynolds signed last month to use public dollars for private school tuition dollars. Monday night, parents also brought up a Linn-Mar policy that allows a gender-support plan for transgender students and parent approval for books in schools.
Beneath all the issues were the same questions of how a parent should be involved in a kid’s education. Wall argued parents need to understand education as introducing a child to society, and some were at Monday’s meeting to support her.
“Ms. Wall was correct in that the purpose of public education, and other public institutions, is for the betterment of We the People,” said Joe Stutler, a community member.
But others at the meeting weren’t buying it.
“I ask immediately for your resignation,” said Sanford.
We know exactly what our children need,” said Jeremy Higgins, another community parent.
Monday before the meeting, Wall shared a statement with TV9 about her post.