The Iowa Legislature School Vouchers Bill has passed through its respective Iowa House and Senate Committees, and will move quickly towards a vote of both full entities this week. The bill would create universal Educational Savings Accounts using approximately $340 million in state funds that can be spent on private school tuition, one of the first states in the nation to do so. Concerns from those against the bill include a lack of accountability with the funds going to private schools that don’t have to follow the same standards as public schools, including letting in students of all religions and disabilities. State Senator Julian Garrett says he supports the bill, and as with anything the state will have to monitor the progress of the schools.

“You have the fact that they (private schools) have to please their customers, the parents, that are sending their children to the private schools, and if they aren’t happy they can switch to a different school or whatever. And in any kind of situation you always have the possibility of a bad apple, and that applies to public schools also. But I think on the whole, things will probably work out all right and we’ll have to pay attention to those kinds of concerns but those are always issues we have.”

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