GOP Senators Argue That Less Money Makes Public Schools Better

Competition, choice, and opportunity. Those are the main arguments from Republican lawmakers for the revival of a bill—Senate File 128—which would give Iowa parents and guardians money from the state to enroll their child or children in nonpublic schools.

During an education subcommittee meeting Tuesday, the majority of speakers were opposed to the idea of creating a statewide school voucher system in everything but name. The major concerns were lack of accountability or transparency in private schools, the lack of anti-discrimination requirements, and that funneling state money to private schools takes that money away from public schools.

Melissa Petersen of the Iowa State Education Association, which is registered against the bill, summed up the main argument.

“We are serving more than 484,000 students in our public education system and we are doing that to the best of our abilities with the finite resources the state has,” she said. “We think those resources need to go to support those 484,000 students.”

Read more: https://iowastartingline.com/2022/01/25/gop-senators-argue-that-less-money-makes-public-schools-better/