Senators defend votes on school voucher bill

A bill that would establish a “student first scholarship program” passed the Iowa State Senate last week, moving to the state house in a nearly party-line vote. If enacted, Senate File 2369 would establish up to 10,000 state-funded vouchers for K-12 students looking to attend private schools.

State Sen. Kevin Kinney (D-Oxford) voted against the bill, arguing that it would trade off with funds currently used by rural school districts.

“Rural students and communities will be hurt,” Kinney said in a newsletter on Friday. “Most of the rural school districts in Iowa do not have a private K-12 option anywhere close to them … diverting taxpayer dollars to vouchers cuts resources for rural public schools (and) amounts to a ‘School Closure Act’ for rural Iowa that will exacerbate our state’s workforce crisis.“

The bill also includes provisions that advocates say will make curriculum more transparent, with language requiring schools to “grant access through the internet to the curriculum used for student instruction.” While a separate bill that recently passed the house — HF 2577 — focuses more on that issue, provisions in SF 2369 are similar.

Sen. Adriane Dickey (R-Packwood,) defended that provision, saying it was a step forward in parents’ rights.

“It is a pro-parent bill by giving them a clear and consistent path to involvement in their local schools (and) by empowering all parents a choice in their children’s education,” he said in an email.

Dickey disputed Kinney’s arguments about the negative impact of vouchers on public schools in rural Iowa.

“This legislation is not to eliminate public education,” he said. “It … provides low-income parents the same educational school choice options wealthy parents have. It also expands sharing functions between school districts to help meet the needs of rural schools.”

Sen. Jeff Reichman (R-Montrose,) also voted in favor of the bill, but did not reply to a request for comment.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com