Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the ‘school choice’ bill into law Tuesday morning. In the law, any family with a K-12 student who wants to switch from public to private school during the next school year would receive roughly $7,600 from the state — the full amount of taxpayer money the state invests in every public school student.

Once fully phased in, the plan would cost the state more than $340 million annually. There are no income limits for those receiving the money, and little accountability. House Republicans voted to exempt the bill from the traditional budgetary process requiring consideration in the House Appropriations or Ways and Means Committees, a process that every other bill that appropriates money is required to go through. The final legislation passed was much more extensive and costly than Governor Reynolds proposed during the campaign cycle.

Pleasantville School Superintendent Tony Aylsworth shares his thoughts on the new law.

“I’m disappointed in our elected officials for marching forward with this legislation for a couple reasons. First of all it doesn’t seem to me as somebody who’s pretty in tune with the primary elections, as well as the elections last cycle, that this wasn’t much of a campaign talking point, and now fast forward to the first couple of weeks of the session, it feels like this was fast tracked and it wasn’t properly vetted, and it was rushed through the legislative process with a different set of rules, in the cover of darkness, so I am disappointed about that. When I hear our elected officials speak, it’s clear to me and to others who really have followed this, that this bill or the voucher legislation was never about equity and not really about parent choice. You know, unfortunately to me this is about scratching the back of folks who funded the campaigns of our elected officials, and it’s terribly frustrating that we had to circumvent the process that’s established procedurally and push a bill through that is very clearly a priority for the governor, but when we’ve got locally elected officials who can’t articulate the fine details of something that has such a high price tag to it that’s certainly frustrating.”

Republicans argue the plan will empower parents to send their kids to whatever school provides the best educational opportunity to fit their unique needs.

Democrats say the bill is too expensive, lacks fiscal responsibility, transparency and accountability.