Pat O'Donnell is a Sioux Center resident who has worked in Iowa public schools for 37 years as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. Please contact us at patnancy@zoho.com.
First year of private school vouchers for Iowa students preschool through 12 years old endsth Grades. Created under the Students First Act, the vouchers provide public funds for “education savings accounts” that parents can use to pay for their children's tuition at accredited private schools in Iowa.
Gov. Kim Reynolds said of the goal of the voucher program, “Enabling parents to choose the best education for their children levels the playing field and creates equal opportunities for Iowa students.” Ta.
But is the program achieving its goals? To answer that question, it helps to examine the experiences of states with similar systems in place.
Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives said the EdChoice voucher plan would “protect low-income families and provide them with options beyond traditional public schools.”
But instead of promoting choice, much of Ohio's roughly $400 million in expanded school vouchers went to students already attending private schools, according to cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer editorial board. reported. They further argue that “a lack of transparency in the law and guardrails for data reporting means that parents who make 'school choice' decisions for academic reasons rather than religious or other motivations may not have access to actual education.” Instead, they are forced to blindly assume that private or parochial schools are their best option.” Data on educational performance. ”
Arizona has a similar story. Save Our Schools Arizona, a public school advocacy group, collects data on the state's voucher program. An estimated 75% of voucher users did not have a history of attending public school.
Arizona currently faces a $400 million budget shortfall this fiscal year and a $450 million deficit next year. The deficiencies are primarily due to rising costs associated with the 2022 voucher program expansion and 2021 tax cuts that took full effect in November 2023. The value of Arizona's voucher program increased by $64.5 million to $825 million in fiscal year 2024. It is expected to increase by $125.4 million in fiscal year 2025.
Save Our Schools Arizona documented how the state's Universal Empowerment Scholarship Account program was “designed to be unaccountable.” Vouchers create funding shortfalls that force public school districts to make harmful cuts.
Meanwhile, 95% of new voucher users in Arkansas have children who “did not attend public school in the last year.” In Florida, nearly 70% of his students on vouchers were already attending private schools.
An analysis by Education Week found that as of March 22, 2024, 29 states and the District of Columbia had at least one private school choice program. Twelve of those states, including Iowa, have at least one private school choice program that is open to everyone in K. -12 students. Whether called education savings accounts, tax credit scholarships, or vouchers, they are all “generally intended to use public funds, or taxpayer money, to pay for private school tuition,” according to Politico. Fact pointed out.
Republican legislatures control nearly every state that has or is considering private school choice programs. Is this a coincidence or is there some driving force behind this?
Consider: Texas Governor Greg Abbott received $6 million from pro-gift certificate billionaire Steve Yass of Pennsylvania. This was “the largest amount for a single.” [campaign] This is a monumental donation in Texas history. ” Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of Michigan founded the pro-voucher American Federation for Children PAC and is spending millions in key Texas House races.
Texas' voucher bill is said to promote choice for students and parents, but it states that “Private schools, like public schools, are subject to federal and state laws regarding the provision of educational services to children with disabilities.'' “Not subject to any regulations.”
DeVos wrote in 1997 that she decided to “stop being offended by the suggestion that we were buying influence.” Now I admit the point. Those people are right. We expect something in return. ”
The forces behind the school voucher program are employing heavy-handed tactics.in Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and the Power of American Business, Christopher Leonard writes that the political network founded by conservative businessmen Charles and David Koch “says they want to remake public education.” That means destroying it. ”
Charles Koch supports Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a libertarian conservative political advocacy group. In a recording obtained by Nashville television station WTVF, AFP Tennessee State Director Tori Venable can be heard threatening Republican lawmakers who are reluctant to support the voucher bill. “If you're not on the right side of this issue, I can't protect you,” Venable said. Representative Todd Warner voted against the bill anyway. Meanwhile, a memo attributed to an AFP staffer says “jobs will be lost” if MPs vote against the voucher plan.
Reynolds used a similar strategy. After education savings account bills failed to pass in the Iowa House in 2021 and 2022, she challenged some Republicans who opposed the bill to seek protections for local schools and communities, and the Republican He supported House candidates in the primaries.
Who encouraged Reynolds to oust Republicans? During Congress last year, she was photographed several times with Corey DeAngelis, a self-styled school choice evangelist with DeVos's American Federation for Children. And Reynolds was recently named co-chair, along with former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, of the Education Freedom Alliance, which promotes and lobbies for vouchers. It encourages 26 states, all under Republican legislative control, to pass universal “educational freedom” policies by 2026.
Coalition members include the Job Creators Network, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Who are the people Reynolds is currently dating?
Bernie Marcus, co-founder and former CEO of Home Depot and far-right conservative megadonor, founded the Job Creators Network.
The Committee to Unleash Prosperity supports debunked supply-side economic theory. He has ties to the Koch brothers, ALEC, and the conservative Heritage Foundation. Its founders include Fox economics commentator and former Trump administration official Larry Kudlow, former Forbes magazine executive and Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, and Reagan administration economist Arthur Laffer.
The Center for Media and Democracy describes ALEC as a “corporate bill mill.” It's not just a lobby or a front group. It's much more powerful than that. Through her ALEC, businesses pass their wish lists to state legislatures to increase their profits. ”
Reynolds reveals her true plans for education as she assumes a leadership position with the Educational Freedom Alliance. She argued that her parents wanted options and that the vouchers would provide them with an opportunity. But in reality, she was advancing the agenda of powerful, wealthy, far-right billionaires who seek to destroy public education and create segregation based on socio-economic status, disability, language, and race.
Perhaps Reynolds thinks the same way as Scott Sepicki, the school voucher bill's lead sponsor in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Sepicki, whose children attend a private religious school, said he believes the only way to “fix” the state's public schools, which he describes as “terrible,” is to “put everything back.” In a recording aired by WTVF, Sepicki said his own goal for public education in Tennessee is to “throw this whole freak system in the trash.”
Either way, it's clear from the company she runs that Reynolds isn't working for Iowans. She defends outside groups pushing far-right policies, not just in Iowa but wherever Republican majorities control Congress. Legislation that provides education vouchers to private schools is not about giving parents more school choice. It is destroying public education.
The question for Iowans is: should the governor and Legislature work for the people or for billionaires who are trying to change the country to fit their elitist ideas? I'm saying that.
The photo above is cropped from a photo of Cory DeAngelis. Posted on Twitter in November 2022.
