As the chair of the Senate Education Committee in 2023, State Senator Ken Rozenboom was in the middle of major legislative changes to Iowa’s education system.

Rozenboom says the Parental Rights and Education Transparency bill passed near the end of the session was to ensure parents could be more directly involved in their children’s education.

“We gave more flexibility to Iowa schools to help districts best meet their needs, we gave teachers additional tools to achieve better control of student behavior, and provided common-sense guidance to ensure boys use the boys’ bathrooms and girls use the girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms.”

Opponents argued many of the more controversial measures passed in those bills are discriminatory against LGBTQ students and opens opportunity to ban books and censor several topics from students, Rozenboom countered with the need for student safety from obscenity.

Hear more about the 2023 session on the Let’s Talk Pella podcast.