Corey Turner

I asked the district about this, too, and they said a couple things, that they are more accurately recording incidents now that might not have been recorded in previous years.

and that after COVID, they did see a rise in intense behavior that led to more safety issues and more suspensions.

Adam Quezvera told me he still supports the mission of public education.

Yes.

Prep is not selective.

If more kids apply than they have slots, they have to use a lottery, which is why the student body at Prep mirrors pretty closely the public schools.

It really depends on who you ask, Aisha.

So the families I talk with say, no, it's good, it's fair, and it's diverse, and it's free.

But the district told me, again, the students and funding they're losing to schools like Cedar Rapids Prep are part of the reason they're now having to consolidate and close traditional neighborhood schools.

This is where the plot thickens.

It turns out as a charter school, Cedar Rapids Prep is largely funded for now by a billionaire philanthropist, Joe Ricketts, who founded TD Ameritrade.

And so in the free market that Iowa Republicans have tried to create in Cedar Rapids, the traditional public schools have to compete with PrEP, even though they don't have Ricketts deep pockets.

And families are asking, why does this charter school look so much nicer than those other public schools?

You know, I want my kids to have Apple computers and a college level chemistry lab and an indoor slide.

It's complicated.

And since you put it that way, I have one more thing I need to share about Cedar Rapids Prep that is very complicated.

And that is,

that after I left Cedar Rapids, Principal Justin Blitz was arrested and charged with harassment for verbally threatening a woman.

Now, he has pled not guilty.

At first, the school put Blitz on leave.