A total of 18,893 applications for Gov. Reynolds’ new school-voucher-style education savings account (ESA) program were approved this year, the Iowa Department of Education disclosed on Thursday. That’s far more than the enrollment estimate provided to lawmakers by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA) when the bill creating the program to divert public school funds to private schools was under consideration in the Iowa Legislature.
The LSA estimated 14,068 ESA applications would be approved. Using that figure, the legislature budgeted $106.9 million for the program. If each of the 18,893 successful applicants receives the full $7,635 available to an ESA account, that would cost the state over $144.2 million. That’s just the amount that would be deposited in those accounts, and does not include the fees paid to the private company the state hired to administer the ESAs, or other costs associated with the program.
The Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate who pushed through the ESA bill deliberately did not set a cap on how much the state will spend on the program each year, despite critics saying that it was irresponsible not to do so.
Almost all criticism of the bill was dismissed without receiving any serious consideration, as Republican leaders fast-tracked it through the legislature. Reynolds had declared it to be her top priority for the 2023 legislative session, and it was the first significant bill she signed into law this year.
Over the last two decades, ESAs have become popular nationwide with people and organizations who previously lobbied for school vouchers to transfer public school funds to private schools. Older versions of school vouchers involved a state directly sending money to a private school. In an ESA, there is an intermediary step, where funds pass through an account created in a student’s name, before being sent to a private school. The extra step allows ESAs to get around prohibitions some states have on providing state education funds to religious schools.
How much Iowa’s ESA program ends up costing this year is still uncertain, because successful applicants will only receive the money if they are accepted by a private school. The Iowa Department of Education says it doesn’t currently know how many ESA students have been accepted.
While ESA applications were approved for students in all but three of Iowa’s 99 counties — Decatur, Louisa and Ringgold — private schools in Iowa tend to be concentrated in urban areas, and students in most of the state’s rural areas don’t live near one.
Private schools are also free to reject students for reasons that would be illegal for a public school. Most private schools will not accept students with special needs, and many discriminate against LGBTQ students and students with limited proficiency in English, and can also reject students for religious reasons. None of that would prevent a school from receiving ESA money.
Parents may also reconsider sending their kids to some of the state’s private schools. The schools are not required to meet the same standards as public schools, and are able to employ teachers who would be considered unqualified by public school districts.
“These numbers reflect that Iowans were hungry for educational freedom,” the governor said in a written statement after the ESA approval numbers were published.
The Department of Education said it will publish information on how many students have enrolled in private school using an ESA once it finishes compiling it. That information is expected to be published in December.
