The Iowa Senate passed Governor Reynolds’ “Student First Scholarship” Education Savings Account (ESA) bill on Wednesday. Despite Iowa having a long history of providing some help to parents looking for alternative options to their local public school, many families still don’t actually have a choice when their children need or desire something different for their education due to their income. We believe that compulsory education must come with the ability for every Iowa parent and student to choose the educational setting that best meets their needs in order for the state to respect the role of parents as primary educators and caregivers.
This year, the Iowa House has the opportunity to join the Governor and the Iowa Senate in helping parents afford tuition at a Christian or other nonpublic school. We are asking you to contact your Representative in support of additional parental choice in education today.
The bill that passed the Senate and is in the House for consideration is Senate File 2369. This is a conglomeration of a number of bills centering around parental rights and school choice. We are primarily interested in the Student First Scholarship (Division II starting on page five of the current version of the bill) that would help public school students (including all incoming kindergarteners and students with IEPs) with a family income of less than 400% of the federal poverty level to access a portion of the money the state would normally spend on their child to pursue another option. There would be a limit of 10,000 scholarships statewide. As written, this bill would not cost the state more money than it would already have spent on these children if they’d chosen or remain in public schools and we expect it to show large savings over time.
We encourage you to contact your Representative today and ask for support for Senate File 2369! Rewrite the sample message in your own words from your own experience and remember to keep your comments positive. Thank you for your help!
Email your Representative here!
Additional Resources/Information:
Iowa Senate passes K-12 parental rights and school choice bill
Governor Reynolds Statement On Iowa Senate Passing Her Education Bill
Agreement elusive in Republican-led chambers on myriad Iowa Statehouse issues
‘Who’s ready?’ Governor asks amid talk of unresolved priorities