Beware of smooth-talking politicians pretending to be something else

Bruce Lear

My mom warned, if the Fuller Brush man comes knocking, lock the door.

Back then, fast-talking Fuller Brush salesman literally would stick a foot in the door to make a sale. Mom knew once inside, it was hard to resist their smooth pitch and even harder to push them out.

The modern equivalent of the Fuller Brush man is the slick-talking career politician who never quite defines what he’s selling, refuses to admit who he really is, and never explains how he’ll pay for his shiny new ideas.

Zach Lahn, Republican candidate for governor, has his foot in Iowa’s door trying to sell his ill-defined ideas. In his latest TV ad, he claims he’s not a politician. Instead, he pretends to be a farmer, or sometimes an educator but with zero classroom experience or college education classes.

I love Halloween, but Lahn is trying to trick us by pretending to be something he’s not, and that won’t be a treat for Iowa public schools.

So, who is Zach Lahn? Lahn was born in Sioux City and graduated from East High School in 2004. In 2009, he graduated from the University of Colorado. After graduation, he became a political operative/campaign staffer for the next 15 years. His most recent political job was as director of Montana Americans for Prosperity, the network funded by the Koch brothers. 

In 2018, he co-founded the private “Wonder School” on the campus of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan. The school has approximately 90 students guided by a student self-learning model with no licensed teachers. Lahn’s six kids attend his unaccredited school. The tuition is $1,200 a month.

The school is drowning in a $4.5 million debt and stays operating through Lahn’s personal loans. The IRS has flagged the school for conflict of interest since Lahn, and his wife are both the school’s administrators and its primary creditors.

During the Republican primary Lahn repeatedly insulted Iowa public schools saying, “Too many schools today teach kids to hate our country, our history, and our religion. When I’m governor, we will reclaim the curriculum from the Marxists who’ve hijacked it.” 

 As a general election candidate, he has toned down his attacks, but during the recent KTIV TV debate, he refused to commit to funding public schools above the inflation. Instead, he made a vague pitch for teacher merit pay and suggested a new approach allowing “off ramps for innovation.”

Both are bad ideas. Merit pay destroys teaming. It’s a popularity contest of the ugliest kind, and school districts that once implemented it as a cure-all discovered it sickened their schools.

The most common way to measure “merit” is through standardized tests. It’s most common because those who implement these schemes think it’s easiest. It’s not. At best, standardized tests are out of focus snapshots of how students are feeling that day. They measure if they’ve had enough sleep, eaten a good breakfast, or if they’ve broken up with a boyfriend or girlfriend that day. They measure if students take the test seriously or if they fill in ovals to make nice patterns.

They don’t measure teacher merit. The real reason for merit pay schemes is to avoid paying all teachers a professional wage.

There’s nothing wrong with innovation. But educators don’t need a governor with zero classroom experience telling them the best way to teach. They need a governor who truly supports public schools and will provide the resources necessary for them to thrive.

Does this private school founder mired in debt really sound like the savior of Iowa public schools? Lock the door by voting for Rob Sand, a candidate who listens, and will work with educators to protect and enhance our public schools.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City. He has been connected to public schools for 38 years. He taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until he retired.