Chronicle Editorial

Two years gone
     Tuesday marked another somber anniversary of Hampton native Ethan Kazmerzak’s disappearance. The well-known local vanished without a trace two years ago, and his absence has only grown more puzzling and tragic as the months have worn on.
     Not much has surfaced in this cold case since September 2013. Extensive searches have yielded few clues, leads have led to nowhere and tips have dried up. Despite all this, Ethan has remained a familiar face in the community over the past two years. Multiple businesses, churches and other locations prominently hang his missing poster, serving as a constant reminder of his mysterious absence.
     It’s hard to fathom the pain Ethan’s family and friends have gone through since his disappearance. Nobody should have to go through what they did these past two years, and it’s important for the community to embrace them as the search for Ethan continues. This situation affected many people and we must keep Ethan and his family in our thoughts and prayers.
     Please take the time this week to share Ethan’s missing poster or a news story about his disappearance on social media. There’s plenty of material out there, and it’s important to remind people about this cold case. After all, you never know when something might lead to a tip that blows everything wide open. It’s the least we can do.
     Two years is a long time. Let’s bring Ethan home.
     If you have any information regarding Ethan’s disappearance, please call the Hampton Police Department at (641) 456-2527 or North Iowa Crime Stoppers at (800) 383-0088. Kazmerzak was described as being about 5’ 5” tall, 185 pounds, with blonde hair and a reddish-colored beard. He wears thick, black-rimmed glasses. He was last seen driving a silver 2006 Volkswagen Jetta with the license plate AUZ 382.
 
NCLB strangles Iowa’s schools
A recent federal report gave Iowa K-12 schools some less-then-stellar marks for academic achievement, but that doesn’t mean our state’s education system is in need of a complete overhaul.
     The annual No Child Left Behind (NCLB) report found that 81 percent of Iowa schools are failing to make adequate progress in reading and math each year. NCLB, the controversial law that sets student achievement requirements and other mandates, requires 100 percent of students to perform at grade level. However, the report stated that 1,090 of Iowa’s 1,335 schools fell short of those benchmarks, according to a report in the Des Moines Register.
     The news is admittedly concerning. Nobody wants to see Iowa’s students struggle in the classroom, and it’s disappointing to read such unfavorable numbers. The report noted that 50 of Iowa’s 336 districts are in need of assistance, meaning those districts missed NCLB standards at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Of the 1,335 schools throughout the state, 874 were classified as in need of assistance, according to the Register.
     Those numbers seem pretty gloomy. However, it’s not fair to take them at face value. The NCLB law sets unrealistic standards for school districts and is in need of reform.
     Every school district is unique and has many different needs. Some face socioeconomic hurdles, enrollment problems and language barriers. These factors don’t bode well for student achievement, but NCLB ignores that by sanctioning schools who fail to meet its unrealistic standards. Congress must act to reform these strict guidelines and give more power back to state governments and local school boards. They know their schools best, and they’re the ones who should be setting goals, not the feds.
     No Child Left Behind was implemented with good intentions, but it’s missing the mark. It’s time to overhaul this law and bring about sensible standards that don’t punish schools who fall short of unachievable benchmarks.