Hunter
06/10/23
Applications for Iowa’s new education savings account program, which earmarks public funds for private schooling, have already exceeded budgetary expectations.
The Gazette reports that the state’s budget for the coming fiscal year includes over $107 million to fund the new program, and would provide scholarships for roughly 14,000 students — the same number the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency predicted would enroll in the program in its first year. That includes an estimated nearly 4900 students who would transfer from a public school to a non-public school.
However, as of 10am Friday, over 15,500 applications have been submitted, with 20 more days left to apply.
58 of Iowa’s 99 counties have accredited private schools.
Heather Doe, communications director for the Iowa Department of Education, told the Gazette by email that all approved ESA’s would be funded, but did not respond to questions about how the state would pay for additional scholarships over what was budgeted, and where that money would come from.
The state’s Legislative Services Agency expects the new law to cost the state $345 million annually by 2027, when fully implemented. In total, over the course of four years, the program would cost the state an estimated $879 million.
