Iowa Senate confirms 'school choice' advocate Chad Aldis to lead Department of Education

The Iowa Senate voted to confirm Chad Aldis as director of the Iowa Department of Education Monday, installing the former think tank vice president and "school choice" advocate over Democrats' objections.

The Senate voted 37-13 Monday to confirm Aldis, with all 34 Republicans in favor along with three Democrats: Sens. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines; Izaah Knox, D-Des Moines; and Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames. The remaining 13 Democrats were opposed.

Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed Aldis — a native Iowan, think tank vice president and "school choice" advocate — to lead the department last month. His first day was March 15.

The appointment comes at a pivotal time for Iowa's education system.

Earlier this year, Reynolds signed a sweeping "school choice" law that will allow every Iowa family to access up to $7,600 per student to pay private school costs like tuition and fees.

She's also pursuing a host of other changes to Iowa's education system, including changing school regulations, restricting which bathrooms transgender students can use at school and prohibiting schools from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity through sixth grade.

Democrats said Aldis is the wrong person to lead Iowa's education department during those changes.

"He has not been a teacher, he has not been an administrator. He has not worked in public schools in any position," said Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids. "For the last 20 years, he has been focused on education reform. His experience encompasses education policy, advocacy and research that spans multiple states in charter school laws and private school choice. That is not the resume of a pro-public school advocate who is looking to help navigate the rough seas ahead for our public schools."

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, praised Aldis' nontraditional background and said he's interested in "empowering parents in the state of Iowa."

"He’s interested in increasing the student performance of all the schools in the state of Iowa," Zaun said of Aldis. "He comes from a business background. I think that’s really important."

Aldis was previously the vice president for Ohio policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, where he began working in 2013. In that role, he testified to the state's Legislature in favor of private school choice and about school funding, charter school accountability and graduation requirements, according to his biography.

Before that, he served as the executive director of School Choice Ohio and has worked at the Florida Department of Education and for the Walton Family Foundation.

Gubernatorial appointees require a two-thirds majority to be confirmed, or 34 votes in the 50-member Senate. Republicans won a 34-seat supermajority in last fall's election, allowing them to confirm Reynolds' appointees without Democratic approval.

Senate confirms four to seats on Iowa Board of Regents

The Iowa Senate voted 34-16, along party lines, to confirm Robert Cramer to serve on the Iowa Board of Regents after he was previously rejected a decade ago.

"His public service is remarkable in terms of the many boards he has served on and contributed to the community in so many ways," said Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Pella.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad nominated Cramer for a seat on the board in 2013, but Cramer was rejected by the Senate, which was led by Democrats at the time.

Cramer is a former board chair of the Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization, and Democrats objected to his views on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights. Cramer ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2014.

"Mr. Cramer was nominated to the Board of Regents a decade ago and was rejected at that time because he had publicly expressed opposition to equal rights for LGBT students," Quirmbach said. "I asked him in a recent conversation to describe how his views had changed. His response was, 'Not that much.'"

Cramer is a vice president at Cramer & Associates, Inc., a Grimes-based bridge building and repair company. He formerly served on the Johnston school board.

The Senate voted 48-2 to reconfirm Sherry Bates to the Iowa Board of Regents and 49-1 to reconfirm Nancy Dunkel to the board. Bates was appointed in 2014 and Dunkel in 2017.

And senators voted 48-2 to confirm James Risewick to serve on the Board of Regents. He was appointed in 2022 to fill a vacancy whose term expires in 2025.

Senate confirms Reynolds' picks for Economic Development, Workforce departments

The Senate also voted Monday to confirm several other members of Reynolds' team, including some who have long served in state government.

Some of those directors will be taking on more responsibilities after Reynolds signed a massive law earlier this month that will reorganize Iowa's state government and reduce the number of cabinet-level state agencies by more than half, from 37 to 16.

More: Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law reshaping Iowa government, reducing agencies. What it does:

The Senate voted 50-0 to reconfirm Debi Durham as director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority. She has led IEDA since 2011 and began her dual role leading both agencies in 2019.

The Economic Development Authority will absorb several state cultural, arts and historic programs when the new law takes effect July 1.

The Senate also voted 42-8 to reconfirm Beth Townsend as director of Iowa Workforce Development. Townsend has served as IWD director since Branstad appointed her in 2015.

Several Senate Democrats said they couldn't support Townsend based on her work implementing Iowa's unemployment insurance program, which legislative Republicans last year cut by 10 weeks, as well as her work on a committee recommending changes to Iowa's child labor laws.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Senate OKs Gov. Kim Reynolds' pick to lead Department of Education