Voucher bill would harm most Iowa schoolchildren

First, Iowa students already have school choice, thanks to Iowa’s broad open enrollment policies. Second, such a law would fail to make school choice more available to all Iowans. Of the 99 Iowa counties, 42 do not contain any private schools. 55 do not contain a private school that serves grades 7-8, and 77 do not contain a private school that serves grades 9-12.

Meanwhile, who would be harmed by this voucher program?

The 1,600 public schools in Iowa, and the 481,000 students who attend those schools, would lose $55 million allocated to them in the state’s education budget. Our public schools would be hard-pressed to weather such a loss. This past year, the state education budget was increased by a mere 2.5 percent, even as schools faced the challenges of helping students recover from a pandemic year of remote learning.

Having attended private Catholic schools and taught in public high schools, I understand both sides of this issue, but for me the choice is clear: taxpayer money should be invested in the public schools that serve 93.5 percent of Iowa’s schoolchildren.

David Duer

Iowa City