U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos led a closed discussion at the Iowa State Capitol Friday afternoon about a proposed tax credit that would fund scholarships for private schools.

States would need to adopt the Education Freedom Scholarships program, which also could help pay for home schooling costs.

The wide-reaching proposal would allow states to incentivize scholarships for students, potentially paying for high schoolers to take college classes or earn apprenticeship certifications.

It also could boost scholarships for special education therapies and academic tutoring, and for summer and after-school programs. In addition, it could help public school students attend a district or school that isn't near their home.

Known for supporting "school choice" initiatives, DeVos said theEducation Freedom Scholarships and OpportunityAct will allow parents more freedom in where and how their children are educated.

But Democrats criticized the plan as a "school voucher tax credit scheme" that would direct taxpayer dollars to private education.

After the meeting, DeVos said the proposal would provide dollar-for-dollar tax credits — up to $5 billion annually for participating states — for donations to groups providing scholarships to private schools and other educationalprograms.

"This initiative would allow for Iowa to create new opportunities and new choices for students and their families, to prepare them for meaningful adult lives and futures," DeVos told reporters after the closed-door roundtable. "Iowa is leading the way in so many cases on educational options and collaborations and I think they would do amazing things if the Educational Freedom Scholarships initiative is successful."

Urbandale Republican Sen. Brad Zaun stood next to DeVos after the meeting. Calling himself a "school choice" advocate, he said the proposal would increase competition, and therefore the quality of education and students' performance, at both public and private institutions.

"This is not against public schools versus non-public schools," he said, calling such "school choice" initiatives "the wave of the future."

But Iowa Democrats argued the proposal would weaken public schools, even if the money for the scholarships isn't coming directly from public school funding.

"People have spoken loud and clear. They don't want vouchers in our state," said Sen. Claire Celsi, D-Des Moines. "Public money is for public schools."

DeVos suggested that states use tax credits to help low-income students. She first argued for the scholarships in an op-ed published by USA TODAY, co-authored Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, and U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-AL, who are sponsoring the bill in Congress.

"These scholarships would most benefit America’s forgotten students who would finally have opportunities to pursue the best education for them in ways that rich, powerful and connected families always have," DeVos wrote.

Critics said Gov. Kim Reynolds should have announced the meeting earlier and made it open to the public. Waterloo Democrat Rep. Ras Smith, the ranking member of the Iowa House education committee, said Iowans "deserve to know what plans (Reynolds and DeVos) are working on behind the scenes that would start to privatize Iowa public schools."

"If DeVos and Reynolds really want to improve education, they would have welcomed all those with a stake in improving education to the table, including teachers and parents from public schools," Smith said in a statement. Celsi said the committee's Republican members were invited, while Democrats were not.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price said Reynolds and DeVos "have sadly come together to plot out their unified agenda: to weaken our public education system and enact their secretive school voucher tax credit scheme."

Variations of tax credit scholarship programs already exist in several states, including Iowa.

Iowa's current program gives donors a tax credit for donating to scholarships. The program has helped Iowa students attend private schools for more than a decade.

Students whose families earn 400 percent of the poverty line qualify in 2019, meaning a family of four could earn $103,000 and receive a scholarship. The tax credit cap was raised to $13 million in 2019.

A new "school choice" proposal is moving through the state Capitol again. It would use state money for “education savings grants,” which could pay for private K-12 school tuition or the cost of home schooling.

The bill's sponsor Sen. Jerry Behn, R-Boone, said it would allow parents more control over their children's educations and encourage competition among schools. The bill's scope and its chances in the Iowa Legislature are unclear.

Shelby Fleig is a rapid-response news reporter and storyteller for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at shelbyfleig@dmreg.com.

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Correction: This version corrects the title for Sen. Brad Zaun.