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National Education Association sees teacher exodus as political spending balloons  

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Ethics, Illinois Policy Institute, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

NEA has lost nearly 400,000 members since its peak in 2009. It could be because just 9% of the union’s spending is on representing teachers – with the rest on politics, administration and other union leader priorities.

By Mailee Smith | Illinois Policy Institute

The National Education Association’s own federal reports show the union is not focused on teachers.

NEA continued losing members in 2024, according to its federal report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor at the end of November. Losing 17,895 members in the 2024 fiscal year alone, the union’s membership has dropped by 395,327 education workers since its peak in 2009. That’s more than a 12% drop.

It’s no surprise, given NEA’s failure to prioritize teachers and their needs. Its federal filing revealed the following:

  • Just 9% of NEA’s spending is on teacher representation, which should be its core focus
  • Its spending on politics and other contributions is more than four times higher than its spending on representation
  • NEA lavishes six-figure salaries on 410 of its own officers and employees
  • The union spent nearly $5.3 million on travel and food for unspecified purposes

And while membership decreases, NEA dues increase – meaning it’s charging those members that remain more to cover its exorbitant spending.

NEA was granted a federal charter in 1906. At the time, its federally established purposes were to “elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching” and “promote the cause of education in the United States.”

But according to the union’s own reporting, those are no longer NEA’s focus. Its federal charter should be reevaluated.

Just 9% of NEA’s spending was on representing teachers

NEA spent more than $432 million in 2024. Yet not even $40 million was on “representational activities” – which should be the core purpose of the union. The rest was spent on politics, administration and other union leadership priorities.

To put this in perspective, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance states at least 65% of a nonprofit’s total expenses should be on program activities.

While the Wise Giving Alliance evaluates spending by charities, it stands to reason NEA’s spending of just 9% on representation should be a cause for concern among members.

NEA spent over 4X as much on politics and “contributions” as it did on representing teachers in 2024

NEA spent over $39.15 million on “political activities and lobbying” in 2024, along with an additional $127.97 million on other “contributions, gifts, and grants,” which are often political in nature – such as the $500,000 the union funneled to the main super PAC supporting the Kamala Harris campaign.

That means the union spent over four times more on politics and contributions than it did on representing members. And that $167.12 million encompassed 39% of NEA’s total spending in 2024.

Read more here.

 

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Illinois education leaders release blueprint for the future of education

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Education, Politics, School Districts, Springfield on December 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Aaron Burden | Unsplash

By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

A group of Illinois education organizations have unveiled their plan for the future of Illinois schools.

It’s called Vision 2030 and revolves around three education pillars, including future-focused learning, shared accountability and predictable funding.

Brent Clark, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, said Vision 2030 was developed with four goals in mind.

“We want to keep students safe, we want to have high-quality professionals in front of them as teachers, we want to enhance their post-secondary opportunities and the success they can have from those opportunities, and finally, we want to effectively measure what’s working in schools in a timely manner so we can make adjustments and make it even better,” said Clark.

More than 100 people helped develop Vision 2030, aided by surveys completed by more than 1,000 educators around the state. 

The plan proposes measuring student success over time rather than one annual standardized test.

“Just like children’s physical growth, academic progress does not always happen in a linear manner, both growth and proficiency should be measured over time within and across grade levels,” said Jason Leahy, executive director of the Illinois Principals Association.

Since much of the plan requires legislation, Clark admits it could be some time before students see the effects of Vision 2030.

“It will not be done in one legislative session,” said Clark. “We’ve laid it out to occur in about six legislative sessions, and we’ll be working with a wide group of stakeholders, legislators and the governor’s office.”

More here.

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The next school reform push in Illinois: testing and accountability

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Local officials say grading systems need fresh overhaul

By Peter Hancock | Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – Education officials from five statewide organizations are pushing for fundamental changes in the way student achievement is measured each year and how schools are held accountable for meeting the state’s academic standards.

In a new report entitled Vision 2030, organizations representing local school boards, superintendents, principals, district business officers, and regional superintendents argue that in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire landscape of public education has been dramatically altered, presenting new challenges and heightened scrutiny of public schools.

The report is similar to one the same groups released about a decade ago, Vision 20/20, that pushed for reform of the state’s school funding system, eventually leading to the adoption of the Evidence-Based Funding formula that is used today to steer state funding to the neediest school districts.

The new report makes recommendations on several aspects of public education, such as improving schools’ focus on college and career readiness, enhancing student safety and well-being, and attracting and retaining a diverse educator workforce – all subjects that are routinely at the center of most discussions about education policy.

But the groups also argue in the new report that it’s time to take a new look at the whole system of outcomes-based accountability for schools, something that has been a central focus of public education since the 1990s.

They say the current system of grading schools based largely on standardized test scores fails to give an accurate picture of how well students are doing or what schools need to do to improve.

“This might seem counter intuitive, but educators do welcome accountability,” Jason Leahy, executive director of the Illinois Principals Association, said during a media briefing about the report. “But we just want to make sure that the accountability really talks about the comprehensive work that educators do, much more than just test scores.”

State Assessments

In the 1990s, Illinois, along with most other states, began moving to an outcomes-based education model in which teachers, schools, and districts were graded based on how well their students were learning. That was measured by how students performed on standardized tests that were tied to the state’s official learning standards for each subject and grade level.

Such systems became a federal mandate in 2002 with passage of the No Child Left Behind Act – later replaced by the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act – which required standardized testing as a condition of receiving federal education funding. NCLB also required states to adopt systems of holding schools and districts accountable – through things like focused remedial programs or administrative sanctions – for making continuous improvement toward the goal of having all students meet or exceed the state’s academic standards.

Today in Illinois, students are tested in English language arts and math in grades 3-8 by taking the Illinois Assessment of Readiness. And starting this year, high school students will be tested using the ACT set of exams, which are replacing the SAT exams that have been used in previous years.

Schools also administer the Illinois Science Assessment in grades 5 and 8.

Read more here.

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Politicians’ five-step guide for making parents think all’s well in Illinois schools

Posted in 220, 300, District 220 referendum, Education, Elections, Ethics, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)?, Wirepoints on November 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner | Wirepoints

Illinois’ educational establishment has been doing it for more than five decades. Year after year they’ve automatically advanced kids that can’t read or do math at grade level. They’ve graduated kids that are nowhere near proficiency levels on the SAT. And they always tell parents all is well.

They just did it again this month when the State Board of Education and Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the new state 2024 education results. This time to give the illusion of success, they conflated record graduation rates with improved elementary scores. Gov. Pritzker told parents: “This year’s report card shows we’ve reached the highest grad rate in 14 years at 87.7% AND the highest-ever proficiency rate in English Language Arts in grades 3-8.”

Tricky. When bragging about record graduation rates, it’s not elementary scores but rather high school SAT scores that matter. And those SAT scores are at or near all-time lows. Student reading proficiency statewide is down nearly 9 percentage points and math is down by over 10 points compared to 2017 when Illinois began using the SAT.

Note that the scores on the SAT – a requirement for all juniors in Illinois – were trending down even before the pandemic began.

But few parents are going know about those collapsing scores thanks to a five-step process Illinois education officials use to make public education look better than it really is:

Step 1. Lead with lofty statements to set the stage. Use phrases like “reaching new heights”…“powerful example of success”…”delivering real results.” Make sure to throw in the word “investment” several times. From ISBE:

“Students are reaching new heights & educators are setting a powerful example of success…our investments in students are delivering real results as Illinois continues to bounce back stronger from the challenges set by the pandemic. ~ @GovPritzker.

Step 2. Highlight “positive” stats and conflate the data where needed. In this case, tie record graduation rates to higher elementary-level reading scores.

Step 3. Ensure the media echoes the same message throughout the state. Use sympathetic traditional media sources to spread official talking points.

Step 4. Name-call anybody that challenges the narrative. Use terms like “carnival barker” and “denier” for groups that reveal the truth. Gov. Pritzker did exactly that in a gubernatorial debate in 2020 when challenged about Illinois’ school results (see Instagram Reel here).

Step 5. Rinse and repeat. Push the same narrative regarding “improvements” and “investments” just like in 2023, and 2022, and 2021 and 2019…

That’s how politicians perpetuate the system. It’s what prompted the Wall Street Journal to write: Illinois’s Shocking Report Card: The Land of Lincoln is failing its children and covering it up.

Read more here.

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A top university bet on D.E.I. What went wrong?

Posted in 220, 300, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elgin Community College, Harper College, OP/Ed, Politics, School Districts, The New York Times, Unions on October 16, 2024| 1 Comment »

Photo illustration by Pablo Delcan and Danielle Del Plato

By Nicholas Confessore | The New York Times

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs are under attack. A dozen states have passed new laws restricting D.E.I. in public universities. Conservatives argue that the decades-long drive to increase racial diversity in America’s universities has corrupted higher education.

After covering some of these debates for The Times, I decided that I needed to see D.E.I. programs up close. So earlier this year, I began visiting the University of Michigan, one of the country’s most prestigious public universities.

Michigan voters had banned affirmative action in 2006, leading to a plunge in minority enrollment, particularly Black students. So the university built one of the most ambitious D.E.I. programs in higher education. It hoped to attract and retain a more diverse array of students and faculty. Since 2016, I learned, the university has spent roughly a quarter of a billion dollars on the effort. Each of Michigan’s 51 schools, colleges, libraries and other units has its own D.E.I. plan; many have their own D.E.I. offices. By one count, the school has more D.E.I. staff members than any other large public university in the country.

The program has yielded wins — a greater proportion of Hispanic and Asian undergraduates and a more racially diverse staff. It has also struggled to achieve some central goals. The proportion of Black undergraduates, now around 5 percent, has barely changed in a decade.

Most strikingly, the university’s own data suggests that in striving to become more diverse and equitable, Michigan has become less inclusive. In a 2022 survey, students and faculty members reported a less positive campus climate than at the program’s start and less of a sense of belonging. Minority students — particularly those who are Black — were also less likely to report “feelings of being valued, belonging, personal growth and thriving.” Across the board, students were less likely to interact with people of a different race or with different politics.

These are the precise areas of engagement that D.E.I. programs have promised to improve. I wrote a story in The New York Times Magazine today about why the effort is coming up short.

Campus paranoia

At the University of Michigan. | Nic Antaya for The New York Times

One reason I wanted to report at the University of Michigan was to better understand campus conflicts around identity and speech. Last year, the school received more than twice as many formal complaints of sex or gender discrimination than it did in 2015. During roughly the same period, complaints involving race, religion or national origin have increased from a few dozen to almost 400.

Some of that change reflects a growing willingness to challenge ugly behavior that might once have been tolerated. But people at Michigan also argued to me that the school’s D.E.I. efforts had fostered a culture of grievance. Everyday campus complaints and academic disagreements, professors and students told me, were cast as crises of inclusion and harm, each demanding administrative intervention.

At the law school, some students demanded that a professor be fired for referring to two students — who were both named Xu and sat next to each other in class — as “left Xu” and “right Xu.” Another class was derailed when the professor asked a white student to read aloud from a 1950s court decision containing the word “Negro.”

As at other colleges and universities nationwide, faculty and students told me, everything escalated in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. One professor, Eric Fretz, was pulled into a Title IX hearing because he invited his class to let him know when he wasn’t being sensitive enough to gender stereotypes. (A student complained that Fretz was forcing his female students to educate their own professor on how not to be sexist.)

What is D.E.I. really for?

Michigan’s recent past may be a glimpse of D.E.I.’s future. The school’s program was built to accomplish what affirmative action, forbidden in the state, could not. Last year, the Supreme Court copied Michigan and barred schools nationwide from using racial preferences in admissions, making administrators likely to reach for D.E.I. solutions.

What went wrong at Michigan? One answer is that programs like Michigan’s are confused about whom — and what — D.E.I. is really for. The earliest versions were aimed at integrating Black students who began arriving on college campuses in larger numbers in the 1960s and 1970s. But in subsequent decades, as the Supreme Court whittled down the permissible scope of affirmative action programs, what began as a tool for racial justice turned into a program of educational enrichment: A core principle of D.E.I. now is that all students learn better in diverse environs.

That leaves D.E.I. programs less focused on the people they were originally conceived to help — and conflicted about what they are really trying to achieve. Schools like Michigan pay lip service to religious or political diversity, for example, but may do little to advance those goals. Along the way, they make ambitious commitments to racial diversity that prove difficult to achieve. As a result, many Black students at Michigan have grown cynical about the school’s promises and feel that D.E.I. has forgotten them. They are, a leader in the university’s Black Student Union told me, “invested in the work, but not in D.E.I. itself.”

I encourage you to read the in-depth story of what went wrong.

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Martin McLaughlin: 2024 candidate for Illinois House District 52

Posted in 220, 300, Elections, Ethics, Immigration, Politics, Resident Spotlights, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions, Village Government on October 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Bio

Party: Republican
Office Sought: Illinois House District 52
City: Barrington
Age: 59
Occupation: Pension management
Previous offices held: State Representative since 2021; Barrington Hills Village President (2013-21)

How should the state respond to the influx of migrants bussed here from Southern states?

Sanctuary city and sanctuary state status are unconstitutional and illegal. Elected officials take an oath to support and uphold the Constitution, and the laws of our land, and to protect the health, welfare and safety of every citizen in Illinois. Putting those who are here illegally before the needs of our legal constituents flies in the face of what we each have sworn to uphold.

We are now spending billions every year on illegal migrants who have not come through the proper ports of entry, prioritizing them over those in our communities in need — including veterans, the disabled, and our students who have been let down by school systems that have failed them. We need to invest in our communities first.

Are you satisfied with the state’s existing ethics policies for senators and representatives? If so, what about the policies should reassure Illinoisans that elected leaders abide by high standards? If not, what changes need to be made?

Ethics policies for senators and representatives should include the removal from any state insurance or pension benefit plans should they be found guilty of a crime in a court of law.

Every election cycle, the special interest contributing class has too much influence on legislators, by driving policies that are designed to promote and benefit those interested parties only. This should stop.

I have no problem making a promise that I will never become a lobbyist, but perhaps we should look into a law banning former elected officials or staff from lobbying the same government entity they worked for or were a member of.

Would you support a requirement that election petitions include a line asking candidates for their campaign email address?

The state election petition rules include all registration documents and our home addresses, along with other personal information which is all publicly available. I am for transparency at all levels. If the state decides to include this as a requirement, I will comply.

How well do you think criminal justice reforms made in recent years are working? What, if any, changes need to be made?

Criminal justice reform policies have not improved the lives of law-abiding citizens in Illinois. The crime statistics in Cook County, which went to cashless bail a year before the state did, have proven the point. Carjackings are up and muggings are up. Just watch the news and see the retail thefts and closing of stores not only in neighborhoods, but now in high dollar downtown retail regions.

The prioritization of criminals and criminals’ rights over citizens and citizens’ rights by the Democrat majority in the legislature has not been a good thing for all Illinoisans.

Remember that not one Republican voted for the SAFE-T Act, because the majority did not want any contrary input that would derail their agenda. I would support the repeal of the SAFE-T Act and many of the changes to our law, including redefining criminals as “justice impacted individuals.” They are not “justice impacted individuals” — they are offenders who have committed crimes against their fellow citizens.

We now have an assault weapons ban in Illinois. What if any changes should be made to the law? What more can be done to improve gun safety?

I am “for life” and “pro-choice” on the Second Amendment. Self-defense is a right of self preservation. I believe that every law-abiding Illinois citizen and my five daughters have the right to protect their lives choosing whatever means they deem necessary to stop a violent offender from harming or killing them or their families.

That right is protected by the Federal Constitution and our state’s attempts at changing these rights have put us into litigation which will be resolved in a manner consistent with Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. Our Federal Constitution is narrow and speaks to certain citizens’ rights. State Constitutions and laws do not get to usurp those protected at the Federal level. Alexander Hamilton said it best, “the (Federal) constitution shall never be construed … to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.”

Illinois is the only state in the nation that mandates regular behind-the-wheel tests for senior drivers. Do you support any changes?

I am for eliminating routine behind-the-wheel testing for senior drivers after the age of 75, as the state’s own research indicates that they are the safest age group of drivers. I am a co-sponsor of House Bill 4431 and will ask for my fellow legislators to join me in this effort.

What personal qualifications do you bring that would make you an effective legislator?

I am a former mayor who has reduced budgets, taxes and spending by working with those who didn’t always agree with me. I am a business owner who understands the value of work and demands efficiency from local, state and the federal government when they spend our tax dollars. I know that policies only work when we have the funding for them.

Professionally, I manage pensions and protect seniors’ retirements. And I have been a coach for 22 years, working with families and their children, helping them become the best athletes and persons that they can be. I communicate with and listen to constituents and other legislators respectfully regarding their needs and their positions.

We may not always agree, but we have a better understanding of the issues when we focus more attention to what aligns us rather than what divides us.

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Illinois taxpayers pay for more school staff despite fewer students

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Policy Institute, Look For The Union Label, Organizations, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on October 8, 2024| 1 Comment »

The number of administrators and teachers in Illinois public schools has increased while the number of students has declined. Illinois is adding administrators faster than teachers.

By Hannah Schmid | Illinois policy Institute

Illinois public schools are educating more than 125,000 fewer students than they were in 2000 but have continued to hire more administrative staff and teachers.

Adding staff could be justified if student proficiency were rising. But it’s not. Illinois students’ reading and math proficiency has trended downwards despite the increase in teachers and administrators.

It seems the Illinois public school system may be more determined to provide jobs for adults than educations for students.

Administrator growth outpaces teachers as enrollment declines

Between 2000 and 2023, the number of administrators in Illinois public schools increased 55%, outpacing the 8% increase in the number of teachers. The dramatic increase in administrators and teachers came as the number of students enrolled in Illinois public schools dropped 6%.

In the 1999-2000 school year, Illinois public schools employed 8,315 administrators. That number increased to 12,929 by the 2022-2023 school year, the most recent year for which the Illinois State Board of Education has published data.

The number of teachers increased by over 10,500 during that same period, from 124,279 to 134,817.

As the state spent more on administrators and teachers, enrollment in public schools steadily declined. Between 2000 and 2023, student enrollment dropped 6%, or more than 125,000 students.

Read more here.

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Should Illinois millionaires fund property tax relief?

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Commodius Maximus, Deception, District 220 referendum, Education, Elections, Fat Bastard, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn discusses property taxes during a news conference in the Loop in 2022. Illinois voters will consider a nonbinding referendum Nov. 5 suggesting that millionaires get taxed more to fund property tax relief. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

By Dave McKinney | WBEZ

Helping homeowners: A 3% tax on individual income over $1 million would flood Illinois’ coffers with at least $4.5 billion in new revenues annually, a new state estimate shows, weeks ahead of an advisory referendum on earmarking that money for property tax relief.

Key context: The estimate, obtained by WBEZ through a state open-records request, marks the first time Gov. JB Pritzker’s Revenue Department has weighed in on the proposal’s effects on the state’s wealthiest citizens. Its goal is to ease what is a daunting financial issue for the middle class.

On your ballot: The exact wording of the ballot question reads, “Should the Illinois Constitution be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income greater than $1,000,000 for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief?”

Bottom line: The results of the referendum won’t be binding, but the outcome could arm policymakers in the General Assembly seeking a constitutional amendment in 2026 — the year Pritzker himself may be on the ballot — to impose the millionaire tax for property tax relief.

Read on here.

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Illinois part of national epidemic, with only 1 in 3 students reading well   

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Education, Illinois Policy Institute, School Districts on September 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

By Hannah Schmid | Illinois Policy Institute

There is an early literacy crisis nationally, and students’ futures are at risk when they are already behind in fourth grade.

In Illinois, only one-third of fourth-grade students met or exceeded reading proficiency standards on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.1

Every two years, fourth and eighth grade students across 50 states and District of Columbia take the national reading exam. According to the Nation’s Report Card, it is “the only assessment that allows comparison of results from one state with another, or with results for the rest of the nation.”2

Illinois is one of 35 states and the DC in which just one-in-three (or fewer) fourth grade students met or exceeded reading standards in 2022.3

Despite a smaller decline in proficiency following the pandemic compared to some other states, Illinois’ early literacy rate is the same as it was 12 years ago, meaning increases in education spending have failed to improve the literacy rate.

Research has pinpointed third grade as a critical reading milestone because students need to have learned to read by then or they will not be able to absorb the rest of their educations.4

But there’s hope: Many states, including Illinois, have passed laws aimed at aligning reading instruction with evidence-based practices to improve the literacy and academic achievement of students. Still, Illinois could and should do more.

JUST 33% OF ILLINOIS FOURTH GRADERS ARE PROFICIENT IN READING

On the most recent national exam in 2022, Illinois ranked 17th in the U.S. for the percentage of fourth graders at or above proficiency in reading. The reality of that ranking was just 33.3% of Illinois fourth graders could read at or above grade level and 34 other states and DC also have fewer than 1 in 3 students reading proficiently.5

The national percentage was 32%, with 24 states seeing proficiency above that level. Illinois barely made it onto that list.

In the Midwest, eight of the 12 states had a higher percentage of public school fourth graders at or above reading proficiency than the national percentage: Ohio, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Minnesota. Two of those had a higher percentage than Illinois: Ohio at 35% and Nebraska at 34%.

The overall highest percentage reported was in Massachusetts, where 42.6% of fourth graders were at or above proficiency in reading. Following were Florida with 39% and Wyoming at 38.3%.

Read more here.

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Illinois gets low marks in educational freedom report

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Element5 Digital | Unsplash

By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square

A public policy research organization is out with its annual educational freedom report card for states, with Illinois appearing in the bottom half.

The Heritage Foundation’s annual K-12 report card evaluates states based on numerous education criteria, including education freedom, teacher freedom, academic transparency, and the return on investment for education spending.

Illinois ranked 34th overall, 37th for academic transparency, but 50th in the country for return on investment for education spending.

Last fall, Illinois lawmakers declined to renew the Invest in Kids tax scholarship program. Since 2017, the program had allowed residents and businesses to donate up to $1.3 million a year to scholarship funds and receive a 75% income tax credit on those donations. In 2023, the program provided scholarships to about 15,000 students.

“Most states right now are, if not looking intently at adopting school choice, at least considering how they might provide more options for families so for us that is a nonnegotiable bottom line moving toward education freedom,” said Linsey Burke, Heritage Foundation director of the Center for Education Policy.

The report card ranked Florida No. 1 for education freedom, followed by Arizona, Utah, Louisiana, and Iowa.

More here.

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