The bill would divert state money away from public schools to help parents pay for private schools
Some state lawmakers want families to have a choice when it comes to their child’s education.
A controversial school choice bill has been introduced to help parents pay for private schools or home schooling.
The bill would divert state money away from public schools to help parents pay for private schools, and opponents say it would be the beginning of the end of Iowa’s strong public school system.
Sonia Culver said the school voucher program, which would give $5,000 to $6,000 per year in state money to help pay for private education, would keep kids from falling through the cracks.
“We have to have this,” Culver said. “Kids who are struggling in the traditional classroom not getting what they need, and they need specialized attention.”
Opponents of the bill said it would dismantle Iowa’s public school system, which is ranked 13th in the country.
“Public schools are amazing in our state and they’re doing an incredible job,” said Claire Celsi, with Iowans for Public Education. “You can’t ask them to keep getting the results they’re getting without the funding.”
“I think it would probably be the beginning of the end,” said Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines.
The proposal would divert between $200 million and $240 million out of K-12 budgets.
“As much as we’re underfunding public education, to pull $240 million would just be very negative for public education,” McCoy said.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Mark Chelgren, said he moved his daughter out of Ottumwa schools because it wasn’t working for her. Now, he wants other children to have the same opportunity.
“I want to make sure that my neighbors, who don’t have the financial resources that I have, have the opportunity to take their kids and put them in the best educational opportunity there is,” Chelgren said.
The state currently spends about $6,600 per student in public education. The school choice bill has just been introduced would need to pass both the House and Senate.
