I sometimes thought that Iowa Department of Education staff members Stefanie Wager and Chris Like wanted to be anywhere else but Room B100 of Des Moines’  Grimes State Office Building on Thursday afternoon, January 23.

The Iowa science standards review forum’s rules, Like told a (eventually) standing-room-only audience, forbade him and Wager from answering questions. They were there to listen and take notes. (It appears that the forum, broadcast via Zoom, wasn’t recorded for review or transcription. That’s strange.)

So the pair sat in silence from 4 to 6 p.m. as speaker after speaker blasted the DOE and their bosses, director McKenzie Snow and Gov. Kim Reynolds. Each criticized changes someone at the department made to a draft of the revised standards submitted by a panel of 37 experts and stakeholders, including educators from Iowa universities and schools, plus parents.

No one, in person or on Zoom, defended the edits, which eliminated the word “evolution” (although “evolve” was intact in some cases) and changed “climate change” references to “climate trends.” There were other substantial changes that downplayed climate change and evolution, too.

It was the last of five forums held around the state, but you can still comment via a survey through February 3. (See this post for a suggestion on how to register your thoughts.)

Maybe the anonymous education department officials who were directed to or decided to cut politically charged terms from the document thought the changes would slip through unnoticed. But review panel members complained about the changes at an Iowa City forum last week. Reporters jumped on the conflict. And dozens of people responded by attending the Des Moines forum. They were philosophical, practical and sometimes angry.