DAVENPORT, Iowa — Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst held a press conference on Iowa's school choice voucher program on Friday, Oct. 11.
Since it was signed into law in 2023, students have used state dollars to help cover the cost of private school. This is the second year students have used the program.
In the press conference, Democratic officials said the don't know the number of students who received vouchers this school year, and won't know until this spring.
In July, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said more than 30,000 students had received vouchers for this school year. That's up from 19,000 students last year. At a cost of about $7,800 per student, those vouchers will cost the state at least $234 million this year.
A list of 16 public schools Democratic leaders said have closed since the bill was signed into law in January 2023. News 8 called those districts to find out why each school closed.
Four districts closed schools due to enrollment or budgetary concerns.
One of the district that closed schools is Davenport. Its board voted to close Monroe, Washington and Buchanan elementary schools due to declining enrollment. They voted in December 2022, before the voucher program started.
Four schools on the list were consolidated, two of those to get students into newer buildings. Two schools are still open.
In response to the press conference, Gov. Reynolds' deputy communications director Mason Mauro released a statement.
"The numbers released by the Democrat legislators in their press conference today are so inaccurate that it seems like they are trying to intentionally mislead Iowans.
"Two of the public schools on their “closed” list are indeed open and some were closed because a new facility was opened.
"As for the list of private schools Democrats released, many of the “new” private schools are not new, but only newly accredited. In fact, some of the schools they claim are “new” have been in operation for years. One of the schools on their list does not exist.
"As Gov. Reynolds has said, the idea that Iowa’s traditional public schools, charter schools, and private schools are engaged in a zero-sum struggle is both unhelpful and wrong. Instead, all schools are an indispensable part of a single education system that’s responsible for every Iowa child. The success of each group encourages the success of the others. "
During the press conference, two board members at Southeast Polk Community Schools say the district has lost about $1.5 million as a result of the voucher program.
"This is a dramatic shift of shifting public funds to private funds from our public school budgets," board member Lori Slings said. "We do not know until the end of the school year how many students receive vouchers, after we have already been required to pass a budget for the school year and report our numbers. Private schools have no requirements to share with taxpayers what their budget is or if their students are being educated."
Board member Brigid Ernst said state funding to public schools is increasing but not at a rate that matches other cost increases.
"The growth in Southeast Polk has offset the loss for this year, but since our- the costs keep increasing, and we don’t receive the increase in funds every year, it really is a deficit each year," Ernst said.
C. Max Roach, headmaster of Bettendorf private school Rivermont Collegiate, gave a statement on how the school choice vouchers have affected his school.
"Many people don't realize that the educational savings account (ESA) system builds upon pre-existing open enrollment legislation. Open enrollment allows students to transfer within public school systems within Iowa. For example, if a family feels their child's needs would be better met in Bettendorf school district rather than Davenport, their children could enroll there — and vice versa. In that case, some of the funding for that student would follow the student to the other public school system accordingly. Even with all the excellent options Iowa's public schools offer, some families still want something different, something specialized, or something more, which is why parochial and independent schools exist.
"Rivermont distinguishes itself nationally and delivers a fundamentally unique experience to this region as a non-religious, Preschool-12th-grade, independent, international, STEM-focused school. We are proud to have served the QCA for 140 years, through our signature small class sizes, teacher autonomy, rigorous curriculum, high expectations, and excellent university placement record.
"The ESA program has impacted Rivermont in two important ways: 1) Families who never had a reason to wonder if their child was best served in their neighborhood school now can have most or all of their tuition covered through the ESA program and school-awarded scholarship aid. 2) The ESA legislation provides much-needed relief for our families, the vast majority of whom need significant financial support to attend Rivermont.
"Rivermont is seeing an increase in enrollment as families consider whether an independent, non-religious college-prep environment may better serve their child. Our mission is to empower academically driven students by cultivating their intellect, character, and creativity. In accordance with the scope of our mission, we are selective in our admissions process and, at the expense of supporting students with a wider array of needs, our resources are geared toward meeting students with the academic/cognitive/behavioral profile of an academically driven student. Rivermont is thankful for this legislation on behalf of those students and their families."