A "school choice" measure that would use public education money for private schools and home schooling in Iowa is moving through the state Capitol again, though its scope — and its chances — are unclear.

A three-member panel in the Senate signed off on the measure Wednesday. Two Republicans approved it; the lone Democrat did not.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jerry Behn, R-Boone, said if the bill becomes law parents could have more involvement over their children’s education. He also believes it would encourage competition among schools, which he thinks will lead to improvement.

“If we're going to get innovation, if we're going to really unleash the potential that we can to educate our children, I think a bill like this has to move forward,” he said.

Sen. Claire Celsi, the Democrat on the subcommittee, said Behn's competition argument is "ridiculous."

“Schools are not businesses,” the West Des Moines lawmaker said. "They do not compete with one another. They're busy enough taking care of the kids in their own building and trying to meet their own benchmarks than to worry about what's going on across town."

The bill, in its current form, would allow students in grades K-12 to receive an “education savings grant” to pay for a nonpublic school or “competent private instruction," more commonly known as home schooling.

The basic idea is to give parents the decision on how to spend public money on their child's education. The education grant would equal the average per-student amount the state pays each year for students at public schools.

When a student graduates high school any unused funds could be used for high education, the bill says.

A previous bill proposed the same concept through the use of "education savings accounts," a term that has been used in similar discussions at other statehouses. "School vouchers" is often used to describe the concept.

Iowa Association of School Boards, the School Administrators of Iowa and the Rural School Advocates of Iowa are among the organizations opposed to the bill. Representatives of those groups said they were concerned about the potential lack of accountability in private education,and noted that some public money is already directed to private schooling opportunities in limited instances.

More:Republican's 2018 plan to expand school choice includes education savings accounts, charter school access

Representatives for the Family Leader and Americans For Prosperity spoke in support of the bill, as well as several organizations that support "school choice." They highlighted their belief that parental control would improve education.

The bill has no price tag for now, but a similar proposal in a previous session was estimated to cost $260 million, according to a lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association.

The subcommittee was held on the same day that Senate Republicans released a status quo budget of about $7.6 billion for the upcoming spending year. The state spends more than $3.2 billion on K-12 education.

Behn said he is open to reducing the scope of the legislation to one population of students in the hopes of getting a preliminary program started. He suggested a program for students receiving special education. He also acknowledged that Senate Republicans have not discussed the bill in private meetings yet, making its chances of advancing this session unclear.