When it comes to “school choice,” most state legislators “play it close to the vest.” To date, very few governors or state legislatures have utilized education savings accounts in a way that would really open up learning possibilities for America’s families – especially those black, brown, and poor families.
Take for example Iowa. The Iowa Legislature, with strong endorsement by Governor Kim Reynolds, approved education savings accounts in 2023. But, according to The Des Moines Register, how that money has been used would be disappointing to those who consider themselves real “school choice” advocates. The Register reported today that,
“The Iowa Department of Education announced January 29 that more than 16,000 students paid for nonpublic school tuition this year by using education savings accounts created under a law signed by Governor Kim Reynolds last year.”
“The law, which supporters often referred to as ‘school choice’ legislation, awards about $7,600 per student to Iowa families who are approved for a state-funded education savings account to pay for nonpublic school tuition and fees.”
“Supporters of the new law said it would allow parents more opportunity to send their children to a school of their choice by removing financial barriers.”
“The new data released last week indicates some parents are taking advantage of that option by shifting their children from public to private schools. Nonpublic school enrollment increased slightly more than 7%, or just over 2,000 students.”
“But the data also shows most of the education savings accounts, or ESAs, went to students who were already attending private schools.”
“About two-thirds of students who used their ESAs this year had previously attended a nonpublic school, according to the Department of Education data.”
“Another 21% were kindergartners just entering the school system.”
“Only about 13% of ESA participants moved from a public school to a nonpublic school this year.”
“…[T]he rate of ESA participation by resident school district shows nearly a fifth of districts with no ESA participants per 100 students enrolled in the public schools, many districts with a handful and a few pockets with heavier usage.”
“Few, if any, seismic shifts in either public school enrollment or enrollment at individual nonpublic schools materialized, according to the data.”
“Instead, enrollment dipped slightly at public school districts across Iowa and increase slightly among the state’s private schools.”
“Just under two-thirds of Iowa’s public school districts reported a decrease in certified enrollment from 2022-23 to 2023-24; just over two-thirds of the state’s nonpublic schools reported an increase in enrollment over the same period.”
So, in Iowa, “school choice” is currently defined as the ability to access public money to subsidize private school costs – that private school being the one your children are already enrolled in.
Is that really “school choice?” Some would say it’s just a scheme to shift public money to private schools.
If Iowa, or any other state for that matter, really wanted to offer “choice” to their young learners and their families, they might want to follow these steps:
Stop calling it “school choice,” and start embracing “learner choice” moving forward. “Learner choice” gives the young learner and their family many more options that just choosing a school to give your money to in order to attend.
Create “parent academies” offered across the state. These “parent academies” will lay out available learning options for young learners and their families to consider, will help young learners and their families create goals to become better readers, writers, and problem-solvers, and help young learners and their families match those goal-driven plans with learning providers best equipped to help those young learners be successful in their learning.
Create “learning innovation centers,” where adult learning leaders can design new learning opportunities for young Iowans, whether that includes traditional schools or not. The problem with Iowa right now, and other states too, is that even their “school choice” options are extremely limited. Even with a charter law now on the books in the Hawkeye State, very few “innovative” learning options are available to Iowans other than a handful of small charters. Most educational “options” revolve around the traditional public school and the traditional private school.
Expand “school choice” legislation to allow families to access public money to enroll their children in those learning organizations created within the state’s “learning innovation centers.” Those learning organizations could include home schools, learning pods, microschools, and other enterprises committed to making young learners smarter and stronger.
Pressure colleges of education to re-engineer their courses and schedules so that “learning coaches” begin to be trained for the state instead of the traditional “teacher.” Someone is going to have to help kids and their parents understand learning options, someone is going to have to design new learning opportunities for kids, someone will be needed to help policymakers understand how to expand current “school choice” legislation into “learner choice” legislation. That someone won’t be a “teacher.” This shift will require a new learning leader – a “learning coach” if you will.
The problem with legislators and governors is that they pass laws while often operating within a old paradigm. What Iowa needs, and other states too, is leadership that can pass laws to support a new paradigm of learning. That really is the only thing that will help our kids become smarter and stronger in their reading, writing, problem-solving, and character development skills.
Til tomorrow. SVB
A Better Path to Learning 
Leave a comment