Area superintendents respond to new law funding private K-12 school choice

In the first two years, eligibility will be dependent on income, the law says. In 2023-2024, a student from a four-member family with income at or below $83,250 will be eligible for a private school voucher. For 2024-2025, the threshold will be $111,000.

Starting in 2025-2026, eligibility will not be contingent upon income, meaning that any K-12 student will be able to pursue a private school option.

W-SR Superintendent Ed Klamfoth said he does not know exactly how the new law might impact the district.

“It is difficult for us to know for sure what impact it may have, if any, on the district,” he said. “As an advocate for public schools, I am not happy, but it seemed inevitable. It will have a greater and greater impact on the public school systems as more students become eligible. We have to deal with the issues as they are presented to us.”

Fred Matlage, the superintendent for Sumner-Fredericksburg, said that he believes the bill will have a limited impact on funding projects in the short term, but that in the long term, it will have a substantial impact on the school’s ability to serve students and the community.

“There seems to be a lot of uncertainty about what the bill will actually do or not do, how people will access those funds, what accountability will be tied to those funds,” he said. “And that is a major concern. Public schools have a lot of accountability pieces built into state funding, and everything that I have read shows that those vouchers, or whatever the right word would be, through the bill that she signed yesterday, does not remove any of our accountability, but does not apply the same accountability to private schools in Iowa.”

Brad Laures, the superintendent for Denver said, “The impact will be minimal on our school district. However, it will have a huge impact on the public schools as a whole.”

Todd Liechty, the superintendent for Nashua-Plainfield, which has about 600 students, and Rudd Rockford Marble Rock, which has about 400 students, echoed the sentiment.

“I am disappointed and most parents I have talked to, I would say 10 to 1, are disappointed,” he said. “When public schools receive public money, there are so many rules and restrictions, and none of those restrictions are following the money to private schools.”

He said the governor plans to fund the program with money from the state’s estimated surplus fund.

“Once the surplus dries up, where is it going to come from?” he asked rhetorically, in reference to funding.

In his column to constituents, Pat Grassley, who represents District 57, explained where the funding would come from.

“When fully implemented in FY 27, the projected cost of this program is $341 million. (Not “almost a billion dollars” as we’ve heard from special interest groups.),” Grassley wrote.

“In the same year, the state is projected to spend $3.9 billion on public education.

“Given current projections, in that same year the state will have a $3.1 billion ending balance and $3.7 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund.

“These numbers take into account the tax cuts we passed and promised to voters last session.

“We have done our due diligence and determined that this program can fit within the long-term budget parameters and not impact the ability to fund other state programs like public safety, Medicaid, mental health, and future increases in the school funding formula. Ultimately, $341 million amounts to just 4% of the state’s annual budget. This program is not an existential threat to public education.”

Liechty also said that another one of his concerns is that private schools may “pick and choose” who they accept.

“We educate everybody,” he said. “We educate the masses.”