Constituents in the Carroll area have asked 12th District Republican Representative, Brian Best, to provide more information on the Education Savings Account (ESA) bill being proposed in the Iowa Legislature this session. Best says he thinks it is a benefit, but he does have some concerns.
With a full-blown voucher system that follows the student, Best said it’s going to be difficult to garner support in Iowa.
Best added that this is very hard for him because he supports the ability to send your child where you want, but he does not want to see small schools hurt by it either. He said it really is a balancing act that is going to be hard to solve. President of Kuemper Catholic Schools, John Steffes, said he is hoping that ESAs gain traction in the State Legislature. He said they are a great benefit for the Carroll area, and Kuemper in particular.
Steffes said that ESAs would have the capability of being combined with financial aid available at Kuemper to help those families that would struggle to meet the tuition requirements at the school.