A former superintendent of the Sioux City School District is pushing back on a state agency decision to investigate ethics complaints against him.
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners has found probable cause to move forward with two ethics complaints against former superintendent Paul Gausman. That information is publicly available at the board’s website that has information on Gausman’s teaching and administrative license.
Gausman has told Siouxland Public Media News, “As I have done nothing wrong, I am confident that should this matter come before a judge, I will again succeed.”
That second portion of his comment was in reference to a previous complaint involving Gausman. Back in 2023, the school district filed a complaint that Gausman tried to bribe two newly-elected school board members to pick a board president that Gausman preferred.
Gausman counter-sued, and that case was tried in early 2024 in Woodbury County Court.
In the newest ethics complaint, the state board in a closed session on January 17 concluded that evidence compels an investigation into whether Dr Gausman violated the law by “willfully or repeatedly departing from or failing to conform to the minimum standards of acceptable and prevailing educational practices.”
The specifics of the evidence and the complaint are unknown as the Board holds such discussions in closed session and documents are not made available publicly.
*Additionally, public universities in Iowa could not require students to take classes that teach ideas related to diversity equity and inclusion, or D-E-I, under a bill moving ahead in the Iowa House.
Courses about things such as implicit bias, social justice and cultural competence would be optional, but not required, except for degrees in race or gender studies.
Denise Rathman of the National Association of Social Workers in Iowa opposes the change. Rathman said it would leave professionals without the right skills to work with people from different backgrounds.
“For example, might be a social worker who works in hospice. Different cultures have different approaches have different approaches to the end of life. Social workers who are working with those families need to be absolutely aware of that and work with them in an appropriate manner,” Rathman said.
Republicans on the subcommittee advanced the bill to the House Higher Education Committee on Wednesday.
The proposal comes after the legislature passed a law last year to force Diversity Equity and Inclusion offices to close at Iowa State, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. More than a dozen combined jobs were axed at the three colleges.
*In other news, Republicans on a House panel have advanced a bill that would prevent in-state tuition hikes above 3 percent for Iowa’s public universities.
Republican Representative Taylor Collins of Mediapolis proposed the bill.
"I think it’s time we start providing some certainty to Iowa students, rather than the institutions themselves,” Collins said.
A lobbyist for the Iowa Board of Regents asked him to consider using a formula to determine the tuition cap, because putting 3-percent in state law doesn’t provide flexibility to account for future economic changes.
Democratic Representative Dave Jacoby of Coralville says he supports capping tuition hikes if the legislature commits to boosting state funding for universities.
*In other legislative news, Republicans may hold majorities in the South Dakota Legislature chambers and many want to create private school voucher systems, but that isn’t moving forward for now in 2025.
Two bills to create a program like private school voucher systems in South Dakota were killed in committee on Wednesday. While that is a win for the public education lobby, the fight is likely not over.
The bills both sought a similar result - the creation of education savings accounts to support families seeking a private school education with public funds.
In the House Education Committee, the debate was heated among lawmakers, lobbyists, and education advocates.
Nathan Sanderson with the state Retailers Association said it’s fiscally irresponsible to introduce that kind of program this year. It has a pricetag of $4 million, in a time when lawmakers keep referencing the tight revenues reality, and they are aiming to erase a $40 million deficit.
The Educational Savings Accounts program remains a priority for new Governor Larry Rhoden, so talks of resurrecting the proposals or introducing a new, similar bill are taking place.
