Republican plan to expand school choice includes education savings accounts, charter school access

A Republican plan to expand school choice options would give Iowa families about $5,000 worth of state aid each year to help cover tuition and other education-related expenses at accredited non-public schools.

House Study Bill 651 would create an Education Savings Account program in Iowa in addition to loosening regulations on charter school operators.

"I believe it gives parents more choice and kids more opportunity," said House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls.

Education savings accounts function similar to a voucher program by allowing parents to use state money tax-free to fund private school tuition or other non-public school expenses. Rogers' plan would prevent the money from being used for home-school expenses.

Proponents say the proposal is a way to ensure their tax dollars support their own child's education, even if they don't attend public schools. Others favor education savings accounts as a way to ensure lower-income families can access the education facilities of their choice.

But public school advocates are deeply critical of such proposals, arguing they siphon money and students away from the public schools state lawmakers have an obligation to finance.

"I think what we need to do right now is concentrate on giving our public schools the resources they need," said Rep. Sharon Steckman, the top Democrat on the House Education Committee. "We have half a million kids that are being shortchanged and have been shortchanged for this will be eight years now."

Louisa Dykstra, a volunteer organizer with Parents for Great Iowa Schools, said that in addition to taking money away from public schools, she's concerned about the impact on rural school districts.

“In rural areas where they don’t have choices, they don’t want their taxpayer dollars to go to fund choices in other areas," she said. "They want their own community schools to be strong."

Costs of expanding school choice

A plan to enact an ESA program faltered last year as lawmakers balked at its estimated $240 million price tag.

The costs of that plan stemmed from the idea that the state would have to allow each of the roughly 34,000 students currently attending non-public schools to claim an ESA and the funding that comes with it.

In order to make this year's plan more financially palatable to lawmakers, Rogers said students currently attending non-public schools would not be eligible for the ESA program.

Instead, the plan would allow new kindergarten students to access ESAs as well as any student currently attending a public school who chooses to switch to a private school.

That means the state would not need to appropriate new money for the program, Rogers said, because it would redirect money already being spent on public schools into the private school system.

"Yeah, it’s going to take a student away and that funding will go away (for public schools)," he said. "But that’s no different than a student leaving for any other reason. So schools have to deal with that all the time – declining enrollment or enrollment changing."

The state currently spends about $6,500 on each student per year, though the amount varies by district.

Rogers' plan would take 90 percent of that and put it into an education savings account for each public school student who switches to a private school. The remaining 10 percent could be used to fund the new kindergarten students entering private schools.

The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency has not yet done a fiscal analysis of the bill, Steckman said

The proposal comes the day after House Republicans approved a 1 percent increase to K-12 public schools next year, or about $32 million. That's less than what many Democrats and public school advocates had hoped for, and Democrats railed against the bill in floor debate calling the funding increase "inadequate."

"I think it’s pretty ironic that we pass under-funding for public schools and the next day we get a bill which (Rogers) says will not affect the revenues – but I can’t imagine how that would happen," said Steckman. "I’m sure there will be ramifications all across Iowa in rural schools and in urban schools with this bill."

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said House Republicans wants to advance school choice legislation this year, but she said she also is cognizant of the strains it could put on public schools.

"“I think there are many ways we can approach school choice. This is certainly one of them," she said. "We are also mindful of the strategy being utilized in this bill. We’ve got public schools that even a few students create even more declining enrollment. So you know, we’re going to take a look at this. We want to be able to move forward with school choice, but we also want good sound public school systems as well.”

Expanding charter school access

Rogers said a big piece of the plan will focus on expanding charter schools' ability to operate in Iowa.

Currently, charter schools must obtain the approval from and be accountable to their local school district.

Drew Klein, state director for the Koch brothers-affiliated Americans for Prosperity, said that requirement is "about the same as forcing a Chick-Fil-A to get permission from a McDonalds before they open across the street."

That and other legal requirements have prevented charter school operators from investing in the state, he argues.

Iowa caps the number of charter schools allowed in the state at 20, but according to the Department of Education, there were only three operating during the 2014-2015 school year.

"Basically we’re saying we want to open up our laws on charter schools and provide more opportunities for charter schools to take place in the state," Rogers said.

Charter schools typically are funded by the state and are accountable to public bodies, but they are privately managed and they do not enroll students based solely on where they live.

Dykstra said that at their best, they can be innovative in providing education in areas of fine arts or skilled trades.

"The biggest thing is that they need to accept all children in order to get public dollars," she said. "They need to still be accountable to the public."

Steckman again questioned why the Legislature would focus on charter schools when it is "under-funding" public schools.

"What kind of priorities do we have here?" she said.