Gerald Ott of Ankeny was a high school English teacher and for 30 years a school improvement consultant for the Iowa State Education Association.

If Governor Kim Reynolds is re-elected and Republicans keep control of the Iowa legislature, Reynolds will push for a school voucher plan that would please the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Religious fundamentalists strive for a state-funded Bible school flourishing in every Christian church basement in Iowa. Since the June primary, Reynolds has been relatively quiet about “school choice,” relying instead on wedge issues to leverage her re-election.

One exception was a speech she gave to the Faith and Freedom Coalition in September.

Photo of Kim Reynolds addressing the event originally published on her political Facebook page

To the Faith and Freedom Coalition audience, she pledged to defend freedom by honoring the principle “… that our rights fundamentally come from God and not government,” where secularisms (LBGTQ affirmation, etc.) abound. These secularisms prove up the need “… to give parents the choice in their child’s education … the right to place your child(ren) in an environment where they can thrive …”

Reynolds has her eye on Arizona, which passed a comprehensive “choice” law. It gives $7,000 to each parent who pulls her child out of public school to be educated in an alternative of any kind. The vast majority of the first-year applicants were parents whose children have never attended a public school.

And, seeing an opportunity, Charlie Kirk, a former Trump aide and founder of Turning Point USA, teamed up with Pastor Luke Barnett of the mega, mega Dream City Church of Phoenix (and other localities). They are bringing the group’s K-12 curriculum to a network of church-housed academies across the state—all using the stipends subtracted from the state money otherwise appropriated for public schools.

Turning Point USA has a small historical base in Iowa. If voucher money becomes available, the organization will bring its army to Iowa.

That would be dangerous. It’s how the remaining vestiges of democracy will become fascist. Below are the speakers at Turning Point USA’s upcoming winter fest, held in conjunction with its education conference. Learn more on their website.

Top photo from the September 17 Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event originally published on Kim Reynolds’ political Facebook page. From left: Steve Scheffler of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, and Governor Kim Reynolds.