Iowa

D.C. Dispatch: Iowa lawmakers tackle school safety, small business assistance – Iowa Capital Dispatch

Published

2 years ago

February 16, 2024

D.C. Dispatch: Iowa lawmakers tackle school safety, small business assistance – Iowa Capital Dispatch

Following the shooting at Perry High School, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks reintroduced a bill that seeks to increase school security, while other Iowa lawmakers focused on increasing access to credit for rural areas and assistance for small businesses.

The Senate was on break this week and returns Feb. 26. The House is out next week, returning Feb. 28.

Here’s what Iowa’s lawmakers were up to this week:

Miller-Meeks reintroduces school security initiative

The Securing Our Schools Act, a bill that would make available state and local fiscal recovery funds for measures to make schools safer, has been reintroduced by Miller-Meeks.

The measures to make a school safer are defined in the bill and include some of the following:

Metal detectors
Training to prevent student violence against others and self
Training for local law enforcement officers
Security assessments
Reinforcing or replacing classroom doors
Hiring retired law enforcement officers or military veterans to serve as armed school resource officers

“Every child deserves a safe and secure environment to learn and grow,” Miller-Meeks said in a news release. “The Securing Our Schools Act, will allow states to utilize unused, expiring State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to invest in security measures on campus, as well as hire and train more school resource officers.

The bill would also develop a school threat assessment and intervention team and specialized training for school officials in responding to mental health crises.

Nunn proposes increased rural credit access

With the backing of credit unions, Rep. Zach Nunn introduced a bill that would change how community development financial institutions (CDFI) function.

The Rural Credit Access Act bill would create an ombudsman’s office to help CDFIs navigate the application process.

The bill would also develop a process to notify a CDFI if they are at risk of losing their certification, except for instances of fraud or inappropriate behavior.

“CDFIs play a critical role in supporting rural small businesses, community centers, schools and more that may otherwise be considered too risky to receive loans,” Nunn said in a news release. “By improving this program, we can continue to strengthen rural communities by generating jobs and creating new opportunities for families at a time when that investment is needed.”

A CDFI can be designated by the Department of the Treasury if a financial institution serves a rural, underserved or low-income community. A CDFI can then invest in community development projects.

Iowa is home to nine CDFIs of the 1,462 nationwide. Nunn announced the bill in Des Moines on Monday.

Farmers face financial formula change under new FAFSA form

Claiming a misunderstanding by the Department of Education of how farm families operate, Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst joined a letter to the department to ask for explanations on decisions in the new Federal Application For Student Aid (FAFSA) form.

Ernst and Grassley joined 12 other senators on behalf of families who farm or have small businesses.

The senators point out one specific part of the application, which requires students to report the net worth of a family’s business or for-profit agricultural operation, calculated with a formula different than the previous application.

“This question fundamentally misunderstands how farm families operate, as the stream of revenue for crops and livestock varies significantly year-over-year, and assets cannot be cashed out to support a loan in the same capacity as traditional investments,” the senators wrote.

The previous formula, the expected family contribution formula, calculated lower expected family contributions compared to the new formula, the student aid index. Assets necessary for inclusion include fair market value for livestock, unharvested crops and machinery.

“These assets can range well into the millions of dollars, with the price of a combine harvester alone often exceeding $400,000,” the senators wrote. “This, in combination with projected declines in revenue for nearly every agricultural sector for 2023 harvest, indicates Ed lacked critical insight needed to develop this asset reporting requirement.”

Ernst calls for review of small business lending

Ernst and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, are calling for an examination of the role of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in the broader federal effort to assist veterans, reservists and their spouses with financial literacy and increasing access to capital.

The senators sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, in which they claim despite the programs available to help veterans operate a business, veterans experience issues starting businesses, particularly when building capital and accessing capital.

The senators are requesting more information on what challenges stand in the way of veterans accessing capital and the financial literacy programs available to them. Additionally, the senators are asking the GAO to investigate the impacts of deployment and other military responsibilities on credit scores.

“On Dec. 21, 2023, the GAO released a report titled, ‘Small Business Administration: Procedures for Reporting on Veteran-Owned Businesses Need Improvement,’ which details problems with SBA’s operation of programs designed to support veteran-owned small businesses,” the senators wrote. “The report states that SBA is required by law and regulations to give special consideration to veterans in its lending programs, but the agency has not developed policies and procedures to do so.”

The senators claim the December 2023 report from the GAO shows broader issues created by federal programs tasked with support veterans and their families who are trying to grow small businesses.

Tax credits for small businesses

Rep. Randy Feenstra introduced a small business-centered bill to create tax credits for offering an employee benefit program.

The bill would provide credits for start-up costs to businesses offering Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts.

The credits would be limited to businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

“I’m proud to work with my colleagues to introduce legislation that will make it easier for small businesses to help their employees cover the cost of childcare,” Feenstra said in a news release. “It can be harder for small businesses – which employ the vast majority of Americans – to offer the same types of benefits as larger companies, but with smart policies like this, we can level the playing field and lower childcare expenses for our families.”

Mayorkas impeachment passes House

The House voted a second time to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, this time passing the vote 214-213.

Each of Iowa’s four House delegates voted for the impeachment both times.

“I regret that Secretary Mayorkas has failed to uphold his oath of office and protect our nation from foreign threats,” Feenstra said in a news release. “For this reason and many more, I voted to impeach him for his dereliction of duty to the American people.”

The Senate will address the impeachment next, when the body returns from recess Feb. 26, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York.

“[Mayorkas] has willfully ignored immigration law and released hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into our country who should have been detained and deported,” Rep. Ashley Hinson said in a news release. “He has continually lied to Congress and the American people about bending and breaking our immigration laws to undermine border security and jeopardize the safety of every American.”

The White House and Democrats in Congress have criticized the impeachment proceedings as politically motivated.

Iowa delegation joins Reynolds’ call for disaster declaration

All six delegates wrote to President Joe Biden, calling for him to grant a request for a disaster declaration for 18 Iowa counties.

Severe winter storms with blizzard conditions between Jan. 8 and 14 caused “significant damage to public infrastructure and private property,” the lawmakers wrote to Biden.

Reynolds submitted the request that would activate the Public Assistance Program, saying the weather and its damage were “of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments.”

The counties affected include Adair, Black Hawk, Cedar, Clinton, Davis, Delaware, Dubuque, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Lucas, Montgomery, Polk, Scott, Story, Wapello and Washington.

Ernst probes USDA funding for Chinese research

Ernst sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), asking for information regarding “a collaboration with a Chinese Communist party-linked researcher involving dangerous bird flu experiments and recent support for other animal labs in adversarial nations.”

Ernst said she learned about a link between the USDA and China from the White Coat Waste Project, a nonprofit that opposes the use of taxpayer funds for experiments on animals. The project series Ernst is concerned about is the US-UK-China Collab: Predictive Phylogenetics for Evolutionary and Transmission Dynamics of Newly Emerging Avian Influenza Viruses.

The project started in 2021 and is set to finish in 2026. According to the USDA, the project is a series of experiments to “assess the effects of innate and adaptive immunity of evolution of avian influenza viruses, in vitro, and in vivo.”

Ernst asked the USDA for answers, including how much U.S. taxpayer money the project received, a list of activities conducted in conjunction with the “CCP-run Chinese Academy of Sciences and researchers affiliated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology” and if any experiments for the series of projects will be conducted in laboratories in China.

Ernst said she supports research for avian influenza, though she also believes the research “should not involve the forced mutation of a virus to become more deadly, especially in unsafe Chinese labs that do not adhere to the absolute highest safety standards.”

Grassley seeks clarification on Hur report

Grassley is continuing concerns that the Department of Justice special report on its investigation into the mishandling of classified documents by Biden.

Grassley wrote a letter to the Department of Justice and FBI along with Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin. In the letter, Grassley and Johnson ask for clarification of whether additional boxes involved in the Biden classified documents investigation were reviewed by special counsel Robert Hur.

The senators claim there is a “significant factual omission in Hur’s report, and ask for the FBI and Department of Justice to release the contents of the aforementioned additional boxes.

Last yr in response 2 Grassley-Johnson oversight the Natl Archives said they picked up 9 boxes of potentially classified Biden docs & FBI reviewed the contents Where were those 9 boxes mentioned in Hur’s report? NOWHERE Im asking for an explanation We need 2 know what was in them
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) February 12, 2024

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Iowa

‘¿Habla español?’ Iowa schools look overseas to find Spanish teachers

Published

6 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

‘¿Habla español?’ Iowa schools look overseas to find Spanish teachers

The Exchange Visiting Teachers from Spain helps schools find qualified Spanish teachers.
World language teaching positions are hard to fill in rural areas.

The sounds of Dallas Center-Grimes High School Spanish students singing “¿Por Que Te Vas?” by Jeanette with varying levels of gusto and prodding by teacher Antton Zuazu Hernández may seem like an unusual way to learn.

But the sing-along is how Zuazu Hernández, a native of Spain, helps engage his students and share his culture as part of a teacher-exchange program.

“I feel I’m a messenger in a way, and this is part of the program,” he said. “We’re expected to both bring our culture here and bring your culture back to Spain.”

Zuazu Hernández — who taught English in Spain — is among 26 bilingual teachers in Iowa as part of an exchange program between the Iowa Department of Education and Spain’s Ministry of Education and Culture.

“(The program) was created to address the shortage of qualified Spanish teachers in the state and helps expose students to different world cultures,” said Heather Doe, the department’s spokesperson. “… The Exchange Visiting Teachers from Spain program has been very successful in helping schools, especially in rural communities, hire highly qualified Spanish teachers.”

Iowa has nearly 1,200 world language teachers in kindergarten through college, according to the Iowa World Language Association website.

Some foreign language teachers in Iowa moved to the U.S. and later obtained teaching credentials. Others were recruited to work in Iowa schools.

Iowa schools, including Waukee Community School District, even offer financial incentives as a recruitment tool for hard to fill positions.

“Many of them, like me, will arrive with teaching experience from our home countries, but in the process of validating the credentials in the U.S. we find obstacles,” said Elizabeth Bulthuis, a Waukee High School world languages teacher who immigrated from Ecuador in 2003, “and the validating of credentials also can be lengthy and costly, because of all the educational systems and how they are structured differently.”

Exchange program is beneficial to schools, superintendent

The Spain exchange program — which brings hundreds of teachers to schools across the U.S. — comes with several requirements.

The Spanish teachers must be certified in the language with at least two years of experience, Doe said. Additionally, candidates go through a vetting process at the federal, state and local levels. Teachers also attend a three-day state orientation.

Schools and districts participating in the program pay an $895 fee to offset licensing and orientation costs, Doe said.

The program is a blessing for rural areas struggling to fill positions teaching foreign language, special education, math and science.

“It’s very difficult to even get an applicant,” said Deron Stender, the superintendent at the rural Creston Community School District, “… When I say it’s difficult to even find (the candidates) they don’t exist. And if they do, they’re probably going to be in a larger metro, urban, suburban areas where there’s just more opportunities.”

St. Anthony’s conducts bilingual class for its students

St. Anthony’s Catholic school brings Spanish speaking teachers to the U.S. to teach students the language.

Zuazu Hernández taught Spanish and drove a bus at Creston during the 2024-25 school year. But falling enrollment and budget cuts resulted in his position being eliminated.

A program drawback is teachers only have three-year visas, he said.

“When you have a very good individual that comes to your district from a foreign country after the third year, you still have that need again,” Stender said. “So, we just open it back up to the same program, but you’re doing another refresh of the process, and while that’s a challenge, it’s still better than not having a teacher in the classroom.”

Not every world language teacher comes from Spain

Another issue schools have faced is filling teaching positions for immersion programs.

In the early 2000s, St. Anthony’s started a Spanish-immersion program after several families with children of Honduras and Guatemala descent wanted their kids to have a Catholic school education and maintain their connection to the Spanish language.

“A lot of teachers go to school to teach Spanish, but they go to school to teach it as a standalone Spanish class,” principal Jennifer Raes said. “… We were really searching for teachers that could come here and teach in any subject, just a regular teacher, but also has the skills of teaching in Spanish and English.”

Marisol Guerra, a Honduras native, came to the U.S. in 2010 to help start St. Anthony’s program. Guerra manage to come to the U.S. as part of that year’s Spain exchange program cohort.

More than a decade later, the school offers classes in English and an immersive track where 85% of the students’ day is spent learning in Spanish. While families were hesitant in the beginning to take part in the immersion program, there is now a waitlist of almost a dozen families.

“There was uncertainty, (but) they wanted their children to learn a second language,” Guerra said, “and they wanted without knowing, I think, they also were exposing them to other cultures and opening their minds to other things.”

The over the years, St. Anthony’s has employed teachers who moved to America from Spain, Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The over representation of teachers from Spain likely is due to other countries not offering similar exchange programs, said Bulthuis, a member of the Iowa World Language Association.

It took several years for the veteran teacher — who came to Iowa in 2005 — to become credentialed to teach in the U.S. because she was not part of an exchange program.

“I think that world language teachers can be difficult to recruit because the pool of candidates is relatively small, so teachers need a strong language proficiency, cultural knowledge and all the teaching certifications,” said Bulthuis, who left Ecuador in 2003 because of the country’s financial crisis, “(but) many people who speak another language also have opportunity in other careers.”

Bulthuis does not recommend loosening the criteria to teach in Iowa but suggests improving or streamlining the process for an international teacher to obtain a state teaching license.

“… Not every Spanish speaking country is going to have (an exchange) program like that in place to help their community,” Bulthuis said,

Cultural exchange

Educators say employing international teachers goes beyond language skills.

“International educators can bring tremendous cultural and linguistic expertise to the classroom, which is an incredible skill and very valuable for students,” Bulthuis said.

That cultural exchange can carry over into a school’s lesson plans.

Zuazu Hernández often lets his American students’ interests drive what he teaches them about Spanish culture. These questions have ranged from wanting more insight into bullfighting, the Spanish school system, stereotypes and politics.

“Sometimes, they are more interested in me as a person, or the things I can tell them about Spain than the actual Spanish language,” he said, “but they have that curiosity that I think all teachers, we have to take advantage of.”

While reading “¡Viva el toro!” by Lisa Ray Turner and Blaine Ray, a novel about bullfighting, Zuazu Hernández talked to students about his family’s love of the cultural spectacle and how it is losing popularity in Spain because of how the bulls are treated.

Zuazu Hernández is open about his perspective on the practice to his students.

“To me, bullfighting is not worth sustaining just because it’s a tradition — traditions are not always good or acceptable — but rather because it’s an art, and it expands the depth of human understanding of the most intense truths in life, with death as the scariest of all,” he told the Des Moines Register in an email.

His students appreciate his candidness and the chance to learn from teachers with different lived experiences.

“I like having different teachers because they have different experiences, and I think it adds to the overall class,” said Grace Heston, an 11th grader Dallas Center-Grimes High School. “When you’re learning about Spanish, you’re not just learning about a language, you’re learning about the culture associated with it.”

Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com.

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Iowa

NCAA Wrestling Championships at-large bids announced

Published

18 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

NCAA Wrestling Championships at-large bids announced

The 330 wrestlers competing in Cleveland at the NCAA Championships are now set.

After the conference tournaments established the lion’s share of wrestlers, the NCAA announced the at-large bids on Tuesday, March 10, completing the rest of the field.

Brackets and seeds will be announced on March 10, but here’s a look at the contingents each state of Iowa program will be sending after the at-large bids were announced.

Iowa wrestling NCAA qualifiers

For the third year in a row, Iowa wrestling will be sending nine to the NCAA Championships. Victor Voinovich did not earn an at-large bid at 157 pounds after finishing ninth at the Big Ten Championships, one place outside of NCAA automatic qualification. He concludes his season with a 12-6 record.

Voinovich narrowly earned the starting job over Jordan Williams at 157, with Iowa coach Tom Brands saying it was very close, but Voinovich had shown a little more “fight” this year. Now that Voinovich hasn’t qualified for NCAAs, it’s a decision that will go further under the microscope.

What’s done is done, however, for Iowa. They’ll take Dean Peterson (125), Drake Ayala (133), Nasir Bailey (141), Ryder Block (149), Michael Caliendo (165), Patrick Kennedy (174), Angelo Ferrari (184), Gabe Arnold (197) and Ben Kueter (285) to Cleveland in hopes of salvaging what has been a tough season.

Iowa State wrestling NCAA qualifiers

For the first time since 2010, Iowa State will send all 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Vinny Zerban earned an at-large bid at 157 pounds despite falling short of the automatic qualifying threshold at the Big 12 Championships. Zerban suffered a concussion and medically forfeited out of the tournament after his first match in Tulsa. His health status will be worth monitoring NCAAs inch closer, from March 19-22.

The Cyclones look poised for one of their best postseasons in recent memory with their 10 qualifiers ―Stevo Poulin (125), Garrett Grice (133), Anthony Echemendia (141), Jacob Frost (149), Zerban, Connor Euton (165), MJ Gaitan (174), Isaac Dean (184), Rocky Elam (197) and Yonger Bastida (285). The loss of Evan Frost hurts the Cyclones, considering his pedigree and season as a whole, but Grice’s has earned several ranked wins since entering the lineup in February and could still add some much-needed team points as the team chases a team trophy.

Behind title contenders Elam and Bastida, proven podium threats in Poulin, Echemnedia, Jacob Frost and Zerban (if healthy), Iowa State will be in the mix for a top-four finish in Cleveland.

UNI wrestling NCAA qualifiers

Northern Iowa will send five to the NCAA Championships. Automatic qualifiers Julian Farber (133), Caleb Rathjen (149) and Ryder Downey (165) will be joined by Jared Simma (174) and Nick Fox (184), who each earned at-large bids. The number of qualifiers could extend to six, with Trever Anderson (125) being the alternate at 125 pounds for NCAAs. However, he had to medically forfeit out of the Big 12 Championships, so his health status would be in question if he got called up.

With that, Max Brady (141), Cael Rahnavardi (157), John Gunderson (197) and Adam Ahrendsen (285) will have their seasons come to an end. Brady, a true freshman, will still have three NCAA chances in his career after showing promising moments in relief of Cory Land’s season-ending injury. Gunderson, a U23 World team member, will return for next season as well. Rahnavardi and Ahrendsen were both in their final seasons of eligibility.

Following injuries to Land and Wyatt Voelker, it’s been a hard year for the Panthers. This is half the number of NCAA qualifiers that UNI had last season when they qualified 10 for the first time since 1986. The last time UNI had five or fewer qualifiers was 2016.

However, all five of their wrestlers have each shown moments of brilliance, either this season or in prior NCAA Championships. They may be a smaller crew than normal, but Downey, Rathjen, Farber, Simma and Fox are all ones to watch in Cleveland.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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Iowa

DCI agent say he was fired for questioning Iowa college gambling probe

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

DCI agent say he was fired for questioning Iowa college gambling probe

A former Iowa investigator is suing the state, claiming he was fired for criticizing a high-profile college sports gambling probe.
Mark Ludwick alleges his termination was retaliation for testifying that investigators conducted illegal searches and were told to mislead students.
The gambling investigation, which led to charges against dozens of student-athletes, has faced legal challenges over its methods.

A longtime investigator for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says he was forced out of the agency because he voiced reservations about a high-profile investigation into gambling in college athletics.

Mark Ludwick was hired by Iowa’s top investigative agency in 1997 and was terminated in November 2024, according to a lawsuit filed Feb. 20 in Polk County. According to his complaint, Ludwick was fired after two “frivolous” investigations, one claiming he’d exceeded the speed limit driving to a murder scene, and the other for assistance he provided to a domestic abuse victim.

The real reason, Ludwick alleges, is that officials were embarrassed after Ludwick testified under oath about what he regarded as weaknesses in their sports wagering investigation, which resulted in dozens of Iowa State University and University of Iowa student-athletes facing suspensions, 25 being criminally charged and 19 pleading guilty to underage gambling.

Ludwick testified in early 2024 he believed investigators had conducted illegal searches to identify the online gamblers and that he and other agents had been directed to lie to students about whether they were subjects of the investigation. He also alleged that stress about the case contributed to another agent’s fatal heart attack, although the agent’s relatives disputed the connection.

Now Ludwick is accusing the state of violating Iowa’s whistleblower protection statute. He declined through his attorney to comment. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office also declined to comment, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety, which includes the DCI, did not respond to an inquiry about the case.

Gambling investigation raised constitutional concerns

In the gambling investigation, DCI investigators used software tools provided by GeoComply, a Canadian company that contracts with online sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings, to look for evidence of illegal gambling activity. Using a GeoComply system, the investigators created a so-called “geofence” around college athletic facilities that allowed them to detect student athletes using wagering accounts registered to parents and friends to place bets ― sometimes on their own games.

Although the investigation resulted in numerous arrests and suspensions, it also drew controversy, in particular for agents’ failure to obtain warrants before conducting their location searches. GeoComply, which had encouraged Iowa to use its service, responded by cancelling the state’s access.

A large group of current and former students sued the state, accusing investigators of violating their constitutional rights. In November 2025, a federal judge ruled that the state’s investigation “does not comport with the Fourth Amendment,” which provides protection from illegal searches.

Nonetheless, the court dismissed the lawsuit, finding the officers involved were entitled to immunity. An appeal is pending.

Ludwick’s reservations emerge in depositions

Ludwick was an experienced investigator for the DCI, working on high-profile cases including the 2015 murder of Shirley Carter, whose son was tried and acquitted, and the 2017 deaths of two girls in a fire started by a relative.

While not the lead agent on the 2023 gambling investigation, Ludwick was tapped to assist by interviewing some of the student athletes. He later testified he grew concerned that the state’s geofence searches amounted to illegal, warrantless searches, and declined to participate in the case any further. He alleges that other DCI agents shared his concerns and also maneuvered to avoid being involved in the case.

Ludwick says he reported his concerns to his superiors. In January 2024, he was deposed by defense attorneys for four of the students, and “testified truthfully during his deposition that he believed an illegal search had been conducted.” Defense attorneys cited Ludwick’s remarks within days in filings covered by numerous media outlets, including the Des Moines Register, which “caused embarrassment and increased scrutiny for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Commissioner Bayens, and other employees,” Ludwick’s suit states.

According to the complaint, officials launched an investigation into Ludwick for speeding on March 5, weeks after the embarrassing testimony was reported. On Aug. 8, officials initiated a second investigation after, Ludwick says, “he attempted to help a victim of domestic abuse flee her abuser.” He denies his actions violated Iowa law or department policy.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

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