The Iowa Capitol.

The legislature reconvened on Tuesday after honoring the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The shortened work week definitely added longer hours to the rest of the week. As we begin commencing subcommittee and committee work, the hustle and bustle has switched from attending speeches to hearing policy proposals. People from all corners of Iowa come to the Capitol to weigh in on policy during subcommittees before moving forward to the full committee.

This week, we also had a number of constituent visitors at the Capitol, including veterans and staff from the Iowa Veterans Home. Veterans from all over the state gathered in the rotunda to hear many of our elected officials and veterans groups discuss veteran-related policies.

One of the large ticket items being discussed this week was the governor’s school choice bill. In year one of enactment, the bill would allow incoming kindergarten students, as well as students in a family making up to 300% FPL (federal poverty level), the ability to apply for an educational savings account scholarship of approximately $7,600.

The $7,600 amount is what the state currently pays the public school in state supplemental aid for that child. The public school would retain other categorical funding for the child that they are no longer educating. This is a $1,200 boost per pupil to public schools over and above their SSA that can be used to raise teacher wages. Public schools will also retain all property tax revenue for a student they are no longer educating.

Some critics say school choice will take funding away from public schools. This claim is quickly countered by the record of increases for K-12 schools over the last several years. Since 2017, cumulative increases in K-12 spending is roughly $1.5 billion.

Next year, Iowa schools are expected to receive over $17,000 per student, for an average of over $340,000 for a classroom of 20 students, and a total of $8 billion statewide from all sources. Despite claims of defunding education, the only time K-12 funding has truly been cut is when Democrats controlled all of state government in 2009-2010 when the 10% across the board cut was enacted.

The bottom line is we have a constitutional duty to educate the public. There are many ways to approach this duty, and the more options available means the higher quality all the options become.

We can no longer make excuses about why we aren’t able to reach maximum potential for Iowa students and parents. We must continue to innovate upward from the foundations, like reading, writing and arithmetic.

Experiences in other states with substantive school choice programs show improved student achievement in both public and non-public schools. Eleven peer-reviewed studies show improved achievement from students in private schools, and 25 studies show improved achievement from students in public school in states with school choice programs.

Furthermore, students in rural schools also see improved achievement. Arizona, a state with one of the most expansive school choice programs in the country, saw rural students improve by 21 points between 2007-2019 compared to a national rural decrease of two points.

I truly believe that in the majority of our districts there will be little change for any school who is “doing it right.” If parental communication channels are open and education of the child is priority one, you will see little to no decrease in student enrollment from the enactment of SF94. However, if you are a school district not meeting the expectations of the law or the parents, you now have extra motivation to get the job done.

Please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns.

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Jeff Edler, a Republican from State Center, represents District 26 in the Iowa Senate.