I went to a public medical school because I went to kick ass public schools throughout my early life. Our Iowa City community takes pride in its strong public schools, namely Horace Mann Elementary School, which serves as the lifeblood of Iowa City.

Horace Mann Elementary is an invaluable asset, fostering quality education, connecting families, and uplifting our community. The proposed closure by the Iowa City Community School District deeply threatens the foundations of our community. What they're calling "pairing" and "revisioning" means our public schools are on the chopping block and going to be consolidated and closed next year. To this we say "Hell No!"

Horace Mann has been around providing a unique diverse learning environment for kids in Iowa City for over 107 years. It's located in North Market Square Park and it's the lifeblood of this community. It's heart of a walkable neighborhood and educates a diverse community. Our school is known for its nurturing educators, vibrant educational community, and commitment to the educating kids to make our world better, more just, and creative. Closure of Horace Mann would gut our community.

We earnestly implore the Iowa City School District to reconsider this decision. Keep our schools intact!

Iowa's Governor "Coldhearted" Kim Reynolds has been gutting public education for years. She turned down $30 million in federal funding for Iowa's pubic schools in November 2022 and passed legislation to divert public money from public schools into private schools. Vouchers are awful. We want strong public schools not backwards book bans and homophobic "Don't Say Gay" hate laws. Project 2025 plans to do away with the Department of Education. They call Iowa the Florida of the North. No thanks! We don't want Ron DeSantis's failed ideas. He called for ending all universities and colleges in Florida because he knows an educated public would vote his fascist butt out of office!

Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature. It's time we started acting like one! Our schools are the pride and joy of our town. Don't let these backwards right-wingers who hate books about Rosa Parks destroy our public education system. Stand up and Fight back for Iowa City!

Anyone can sign this petition, doesn't matter if you live here or you just love what a unique place Iowa City is. All our kids today and our future generations thank you for your support!

As our beloved Kurt Vonnegut said "Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."

We believe in Horace Mann!