At the close of the second week of Iowa’s 2021 legislative session, District 6 Senator, Craig Williams, highlighted the focus on education in his weekly newsletter. Along with around 118 bills and another 81 Senate study bills that are already on the docket for this general assembly, more are added nearly on a daily basis. One issue that many Iowa residents are watching is a bill to allow for education savings accounts (ESAs), through which parents and guardians can use the funds to offset expenses of enrolling children in schools of their choice. Williams says he does not yet have the exact details of the proposed bill, but he knows there is a big push for the education accounts.
Williams stresses he is not saying there is anything wrong with the public education system.
District 12 House Representative, Brian Best, says he doesn’t want to comment much on this until they get more details on the proposal. He would like to see what the actual dollar figures are. The legislators are also expecting they will be asked to fine-tune the Future Ready Iowa Last-Dollar Scholarship program. The state-funded grants are available to those students enrolling in a course of study for a credentialed, high-demand classified job. This includes the quest for post-secondary diplomas, certificates and associate degrees. Best says he is aware of a few glitches with the initial program. He provides one example.
Williams says these grants are meant to come into play after all other financial aid avenues have been utilized. He was not aware of the glitches, but believes this is a great program, not only for the students and the industries in need, but for the community colleges as well. Because of COVID-19 restrictions at the Iowa Capitol, those wishing to voice an opinion on any bill being proposed can do so on a virtual platform. More details on this are available at www.legis.iowa.gov.
