Episode 29: Expanding School Choice in Iowa

On the Caffeinated Thoughts Podcast, Shane Vander Hart discusses a bill in the Iowa House that would expand school choice in Iowa with Trish Wilger of Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education and Mark Jacobs of Reaching Higher Iowa.----more----

On today's episode of The Caffeinated Thoughts Podcast, our host, Shane Vander Hart, discusses an attempt in the Iowa House to expand school choice for Iowa's students. A bill, HSB 651, entitled the Iowa Student Opportunities Act was filed by State Representative Walt Rogers (R-Cedar Falls), the House Education Committee chair, last week. Shane wrote about the bill last Friday.

If passed the bill would create an education savings grant for public school parents or parents of kindergarteners who want to enroll their student in an accredited non-public school in Iowa. The bill would also expand Iowa's charter school law making it easier for groups to receive charters.

To discuss education savings grants, Shane spoke with Trish Wilger, who is the executive director for Iowa Advocates for Choice in Education. Later in the podcast, Shane spoke with Mark Jacobs, the founder and president of Reaching Higher Iowa about Iowa's current charter school law and what HSB 651 will do to expand it.

Note: After recording the podcast, we learned HSB 651 did pass out of subcommittee. So it will be debated in the full House Education Committee.

 

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