(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Nearly 19,000 qualify for state money for private school costs [1]
['Robin Opsahl', 'More From Author', '- October']
Date: 2023-10-12
The state has approved nearly 19,000 applications from families seeking state money for private school expenses for the 2023-24 school year, Iowa officials reported Thursday.
A total of 18,893 Education Savings Accounts were approved this year, allowing families to use up to $7,635 per student in state funds for non-public school tuition and associated costs, according to a news release from the Iowa Department of Education.
The state has not reported how many students with approved applications are currently attending and using money from the accounts. Enrollment numbers will not be finalized until December, according to the department.
The number of approved applications exceeded the state’s estimations. When the private school scholarship program was approved during the 2023 legislative session, the Legislative Services Agency estimated 14,068 students would use the program, costing the state $106.9 million in its first year.
The state received more than 29,000 applications in total before the June 30 deadline, officials reported in July. Nearly 6,000 were denied for not meeting the program’s residency or household income requirements, while another 4,792 applications were denied for submission after the June 30 deadline or because the applicant rescinded their request.
The program, signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in January, phases in over three years. The accounts are only available to current K-12 public school students, incoming kindergarteners, and current private school students with family incomes at or below 300% of the federal poverty line.
That income threshold will rise to 400% for the 2024-2025 school year, and will be available for all current private school students in year three, along with being available for all current and incoming public school students.
The breakdown of how many students using ESAs attended public versus private schools the previous year will not be available until December. But as of July, the governor’s office reported 40% of approved applicants were current public school students planning to move to an accredited private school using the program, and that 60% were students already attending private schools.
The preliminary report also found majority of approved applicants fell between 101% and 300% of the federal poverty line. Thirty-one percent had household incomes between $30,000 and $60,000 for a family of four, and 36% between $60,000 and $90,000. Families with household incomes of $30,000 or less made up 14% of approved applicants, and those with incomes above $90,000 were 19%.
State approval of an ESA application does not automatically issue the funds to the applicant’s family. While ESA programs in states like Arizona have faced criticism because of parents misusing the state funds appropriated for private school costs, Iowa’s program transfers the money directly to the school.
If a student is approved for an account and does not attend a private school, that money is returned to the state’s general fund, officials said.
Iowa Democrats criticized the program for diverting taxpayer money from Iowa public schools. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst said in a statement that Iowans are “overwhelmingly opposed to vouchers because public money is for public schools.”
“The $144 million Reynolds is handing over to the special interests and private schools should be going to the kids in Iowa’s public schools,” Konfrst said. “Iowans want us to focus on the real issues facing our students today. That means strengthening public schools, addressing Iowa’s teacher shortage, getting students the one-on-one attention they deserve, and expanding school-based mental health services to support students.”
Critics also linked the private school scholarship program to the drop in revenue growth reported by state officials during Thursday’s meeting of the Revenue Estimating Conference. Iowa Department of Management Director Kraig Paulsen said the panel is predicting tax revenue will fall by just under 1% in fiscal year 2024 because of tax cuts approved in previous years.
But Sen. Janet Petersen of Des Moines, ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the REC report showed Iowa’s revenue growth can’t keep up with “the costs of Governor Reynolds’ corporate tax cuts and private-school voucher spending.”
“Today’s revenue estimate is a warning for Governor Reynolds and statehouse Republicans: your special-interest spending spree isn’t sustainable and it leaves too many taxpayers behind,” Petersen said in a statement.
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