By Joe Younker, Iowa City Public school advocates have argued that a 2 percent increase in state funding isn’t enough. Class sizes are growing. Programs are being cut. Teachers are leaving. The funding formula is broken. That’s what they say, and they’re right. And then there’s the Iowa City Community School District. Last August, district […]
Letters
Letters to the editor(s) are always welcome; we reserve the right to fact check and edit for length and clarity. Please send letters, comments or corrections to editor@littlevillagemag.com.
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: As governor, Rob Sand should reset the Board of Regents
By Alisha Sena, Iowa City Iowa’s education reputation has faded under a partisan attack. As State Auditor Rob Sand continues his 2026 gubernatorial run, he should adopt the Virginia model used by Governor Abigail Spanberger, who demanded university board resignations to prioritize stability over political theater. Current strategy follows a two-pronged assault. First, the voucher […]
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Letter to the editor: Library outreach is neither radical nor reckless. All Iowans have a right to read.
By Cathy Zimmerman and Sam Helmick We write in firm and solemn opposition to HF 2324, now before the Iowa General Assembly. This measure forbids school districts, charter schools and innovation zone schools from entering into partnership with their public libraries, denies students the use of their school-issued identification to obtain books and learning materials, […]
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Letter to the editor: Why I cannot support Flock cameras in Coralville
By Hai Huynh, Coralville City Councilor Last year, the contract to purchase Flock’s automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) was signed as part of the City of Coralville’s budget process — before most people even knew it was happening, and before we had even talked about it as a council. When the police chief later returned […]
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Letter to the editor: Don’t let the Board of Regents close the Department of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies at UI
We, alumni/ae of the University of Iowa, write to you in a moment of profound alarm about what is happening to our beloved university. Public universities exist for a reason: they offer students access to a wide range of established academic disciplines, broad enough to challenge assumptions and rigorous enough to prepare graduates for professional […]
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Letter to the editor: Connect the dots and join the resistance against Flock and the surveillance network
By Bryan Clark, Dawn Clark, Justin K Comer, Fenek Coney, Katie Dennis, Joseph Dutcher, Will Gunnerson, Leah Otting, Tara McGovern, Alannah Swenka, Ryan Swenka, Bailey Welchhance, Maggie Welchhance and Dan Wohlers When Ring advertised their new AI-powered Search Party function during the Super Bowl as a solution for finding lost dogs, people were rightfully concerned. […]
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Letter to the editor: Local libraries — and free thought — are under threat in Iowa
By Sam Helmick, Iowa City; American Library Association president I come to this conversation because, for generations, Iowans of all walks of life have sent up a righteous cry: Free people read freely. That principle is not abstract in our state. Iowa has more libraries per capita than any other state in the nation. Nearly […]
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Letter to the editor: Like millions of migrants, my dad is indispensable
By Anthony Arroyo, Des Moines ICE is a continuation of America’s oldest tradition: state-sanctioned violence against people of color, especially Latinos. It grows out of a history that has always needed someone to be labeled alien, invader, criminal, deportable. Language becomes a weapon. Once a group is reduced to a threat, their humanity becomes optional. For decades, the United […]
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Letter to the editor: Minnesotans are showing us how to defend freedom
By Patricia Bowen, Iowa City Minnesotans across races and origins, faiths and genders, are demonstrating that the brave of us stand with and for each other. And the cowardly MAGA regime has escalated their attacks, assaulting families in the streets, invading homes, kidnapping children, and now killing Alex Pretti and Renee Good as they were looking […]
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Letter to the editor: The United States is not Denmark. The CDC’s new vaccine schedule is dangerous
By Jennifer Sotelo, Atalissa If you are bone weary with a throat on fire, aching muscles and chills that make your teeth chatter… it could be because you have the flu. The Center for Disease Control estimates 15 million illnesses from influenza this season so far, 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths, the highest level on […]
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Letter to the editor: Bulgarians are taking to the streets to fight corruption. Americans should, too.
By Laurel Zmolek-Smith, Iowa native in Sofia, Bulgaria I am an Iowan living and working in Sofia, Bulgaria. In recent weeks, Bulgarians have taken part in mass, peaceful protests calling for the resignation of a deeply corrupt government. They succeeded. And what stands out most is not just the size of the protests, but their […]
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Letter to the editor: It is the duty of Congress to impeach Trump
By Patricia Bowen, Iowa City For generations, Americans of all races, places, and origins have marched, rallied, and fought to make ours a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Now the MAGA regime has invaded Venezuela, bombing families in an attempt to take control of the country for the oil […]
