"No" to school vouchers? Of course

The number of Iowa's private schools, by county.

Gov. Kim Reynolds' school voucher plan is likelier to pass the Legislature this year --- thanks to strategic politicking in the run-up to the 2022 election that diminished the number of lawmakers willing to join a bipartisan coalition that previously had kept it from becoming law. 

Briefly, Reynolds' plan would (after a two-year phase-in) provide families who want to send students to private schools per-pupil "scholarships" equal to the per-pupil allotments now paid to public school districts in order to allow them to function.

A majority of Iowans appear to oppose the plan, but it's not clear that will affect its trajectory.

Here are some of the issues:

The proposal will divert money needed to keep public schools operating into the hands of private schools. The budget surplus that would allow the plan to be launched with little disruption most likely will not last, at which point public and private schools will find themselves competing for resources.

As the map indicates, there are no private schools (other than Amish and related K-8) in 41 of Iowa's 99 counties to benefit from the plan, including Lucas.  So the big bucks would be siphoned away from rural Iowa.

Private schools are not required to accept students, so it seems likely that students with complex needs --- learning disabilities, for example; handicaps of various sort --- will be left to public schools to educate.

Although Iowa's private schools must follow an accreditation process, religious views shape the curriculum in many. That's one of the reasons some parents choose parochial schools but not necessarily a reason the public should support them in general. 

It seems likely that management firms from outside the state would be brought in to administer the voucher program, another expenditure that doesn't directly benefit Iowans.

And then, of course, there's the separation of church and state issue --- most of the state's private schools are parochial. And some have fine academic programs. However, our ancestors of nearly all  faith outlooks worked long and hard to build the best public school system possible. And the voucher plan threatens to further erode that system.