2 weeks Ago By SARAH WATSON [email protected]
Ahead of the November election, Iowa and Scott County Democratic elected officials have questioned the accountability and sustainability of the state's program that allows families to use state funding for private school tuition and expenses. Supporters of the Education Savings Account program, passed by the majority of Republicans in the state Legislature in 2023, have said the program puts students first and expands private school access to families if they feel it's the best educational fit for their child. More than for the 2024-2025 school year for Education Savings Accounts, Iowa Gov.
Kim Reynolds announced over the summer. That's about 10,000 more than the nonpartisan when Education Savings Accounts were passed in 2023. The state has not yet released statistics on how many ended up enrolling in Iowa private schools this fall.
Eligible for ESAs this school year were all kindergarteners, all students enrolled in a public school the previous year, and students enrolled at a nonpublic school the previous year with an annual household income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level — $111,000 for a family of four. Next school year, all students will be eligible regardless of family income level. In the 2023-2024 school year, approved applicants had previously attended a private school, 21% started kindergarten with an ESA and 12% switched from a public school.
For that school year, kindergarteners, public school students and nonpublic school students with a household income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level — $83,250 for a family of four — were eligible to apply. The 16,757 scholarships reported at $7,598 per student would cost the state $127.3 million in the program's first year, more than the legislative service agency's initial estimate of .
In a roundtable Wednesday hosted by state Rep. Ken Croken, D-Davenport, and state Sen. Cindy Winckler in Davenport, the pair were critical of the ESA program's expected costs as for the coming year is estimated by the state's revenue estimating panel to dip about $200,000 below the current budget.
That estimated shortfall forecast is driven by lower state revenue because of income tax cuts, some of which both Croken and Winckler supported in 2024. "We basically have escalating commitments and a reduction of revenue," Winckler said. "How is that going to play out?" Croken said if it ends up that 30,000 students are approved at $7,826 per student, it would cost the state about $234 million for the second year of the program, above the $156 million the legislative service agency .
Croken and Winckler emphasized that the state law does not cap how much the state spends on the program. "In the coming year, there's no income restrictions on the voucher program, so everybody who is already in a private school is entitled to claim a $7,800 voucher," Croken said. "So the total number going forward makes for a completely unsustainable budget and as a result a dismal fiscal forecast.
" State Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, a proponent of ESAs, said "Iowa families are keeping more of their hard earned money because of tax cuts passed thanks to Iowa Republicans." Bousselot, like other Republican leaders have, pointed to allocating about half the state's budget — $5.
7 billion — to public schools, including increasing student supplemental aid by 2.5% in fiscal year 2025 and passing a measure to raise teacher pay to be a minimum of $50,000 once phased in. "There's about half a million students in K-12 public education and between 20,000 and 40,000 students using scholarships," Bousselot said.
"It's completely sustainable. We plan for it." State Auditor Rob Sand hosted a town hall in Scott County last week, where he said he fielded several questions on education savings accounts passed by the Legislature in 2023.
Sand's town halls are hosted by his state office, and Sand said he talks about "waste, fraud, abuse," Democrats, Republicans and independents attend, and they are civic-oriented, not campaign events. Sand said the education savings accounts have an "appalling lack of oversight for hundreds of millions of dollars that we're handing over to private schools." Sand said his office is not allowed to audit private schools' use of state funding and there are not the same auditing nor reporting requirements for private schools as there are for public schools.
“If it’s a for-profit private school, they can keep every tax dollar they get as profit, not even spend it on education. That is legal in the state of Iowa, and I don’t know how we would find out," Sand said. "If they want to spend it on booze, that’s legal in the state of Iowa and I don’t know how we would find out.
If the principal wants to spend it on a new car, that’s legal in the state of Iowa. I don’t know how we would find out.” Democrats have also pointed to a study by Brown and Princeton universities that found Iowa private schools raised kindergarten tuition by 24-26% compared to lower increases for Nebraska private schools.
Supporters of education savings accounts contend the study includes just 51% of Iowa schools and inflation contributed to rises in tuition. "Ultimately, public and private schools are answerable to the parents and students attending those schools," Bousselot said. Bousselot said the auditor's office has told the Department of Education it is already stretched thin when asked to fill in when public schools are unable to find a third-party auditor and said Sand is "trying to score political points.
" Coram Deo Academy, a pre-K through 12th grade Christian school in Davenport, is one of the schools benefitting from the education savings accounts. Grady Adkins, executive pastor and head of school, had always wanted to start a Christian school in the Quad-Cities and opened the academy in 2020 after an outcry from parents about school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. "When public schools were shutting down and keeping students at home we knew we needed to open our doors and accept students," Adkins said.
The nonprofit school has grown each year since, and this past year, it received accreditation from a state-approved organization, Christian Schools International. Private schools must be accredited in order to be eligible for ESA funding, so this was the first fall that students could apply for ESAs to attend Coram Deo. Coram Deo Academy enrolled about 118 students in K-12 this fall, Adkins said, and about 100 of them use ESAs.
Adkins said accreditation was a lengthy and rigorous process to meet standards required. CSI reviewed Coram Deo Academy's policies, budgets, finances, structure, processes and procedures and teacher certifications, he said. Coram Deo Academy uses a third-party auditor for an annual audit and is governed by an eight-member board, Adkins said.
For church members, Coram Deo Academy charges $9,000 in tuition per year. For nonmembers, it's $9,500 per year. Adkins said the school has raised tuition in recent years because "how we started five years ago was not sustainable to provide our students with excellent education as well as providing our teachers with a competitive salary.
" Adkins said the school offers an education where the Bible is integrated into every subject and where classroom sizes max at a capacity of 16 students per teacher. Without ESAs, Adkins said, it would not be attainable for many students to attend the school. Adkins took issue with the state auditor's suggestion that private nonprofit schools could spend money frivolously.
He said budgets are tight after educational, facilities and resource expenses and the school is accountable to its board, the accreditation agency, and parents and the community. Adkins said Coram Deo would make financial records and decisions of the school board available to parents of students and they could come to him or the board with questions or concerns. "To say that we are able to spend the money frivolously on personal items is ridiculous," Adkins said.
"If that was the case, people would not be coming to our school. Families would not be choosing our school because we would not be functioning correctly." Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.
Bettendorf, East Moline, and Silvis Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items..
