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More support for school choice? Reynolds says yes, BOE says no
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 19, 2017


How much state funding may follow students who leave West Branch for a private school?


West Branch Board of Education members raised concerns about the coming state legislative term, set to begin in January, after Superintendent Kevin Hatfield said public schools may see little additional funding, or possibly less.

Gov. Kim Reynolds, visiting West Branch this past week, said she will not write her budget until after December revenue estimates come in, but supports giving parents options.

“I think it’s healthy for parents to have a choice on where to send their students,” the Republican governor, who had just finished touring Scattergood Friends School and Farm, a private Quaker high school east of the city, said. “It’s really important we have a strong public education, so we have to be mindful of that, also.”

Hatfield, at the Oct. 6 school board meeting, questioned state and federal legislators providing more financial incentives to assist families wishing to send their children to private schools.

“There’s plenty of choice out there now,” he said. “Why incentivize people to have additional funding? … I hate to say this, but it’s kind of a little bit of defunding on the backside of the public schools.”

Iowa law offers both individual tax credits and the School Tuition Organization (STO) Tax Credit Program. STOs are groups that funnel private donations to low-income families and provide tax credits to those donors. Scattergood is one of two schools that benefits from the Independent School Association of Eastern Iowa STO, according to the Iowa Alliance for Choice In Education.

Some options for using tax revenues to pay part of private-school tuition include school vouchers, tax-credit scholarships and educational savings accounts.

“I think parents should be able to have the choice where to send their students,” Reynolds said. “There may be a way we can help with some of the funding for that.”

School board member Jodi Yeggy said tax credits shrink the pool of money available for public schools, and encouraged school board members to contact state legislators about this.

“We need to be letting our reps know that we kind of understand what’s going on, but, more importantly, that we are very worried about what’s going on. … How is this helping students in West Branch?”

Board President Julie Sexton said some families move to Iowa to educate their children.

“I can see, in some big cities, maybe some of their public schools aren’t up to par because of crime or whatever that goes on, and they have metal detectors … but when you’re in certain parts of the country, our public schools — we can brag about those in Iowa.”

Sexton said she asked, a year or two ago, state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, how many legislators send their children to private schools or keep them for home schooling.

“It was like 30 percent,” she said. “That’s a lot. That’s a third. … I know a lot of factors play into that and some kids do better with home schooling. … But it makes me think, ‘OK, the people making these decisions …”

“A little bit self-serving?” Yeggy added.

“Yeah,” Sexton said. “Have they really been to the public schools?”

Reynolds said lawmakers are looking for the most feasible options.

“There may be ways to do this that are revenue-neutral,” she said. “Maybe there are ways we can split it. … We’ll see what the art of the possible is.”

The governor listed off her four priorities: A competitive business environment, especially in regard to taxes; An innovative energy policy built on natural resources, like biomass; Educating students for a “knowledge economy”; and Helping Iowans get the skills they need for available jobs.

“Our No. 1 priority is the workforce,” Reynolds said.