The debate continues in the Iowa House regarding an education bill to give families in  federally failing schools in the state an option to go to another institution.

District 24 Senator Jesse Green argues that with the Student First Scholarships, public funds would be given to students that are attending one of the 34 federally failing schools an option to go somewhere else.

“A lot of people don’t realize that those federally failing schools, they also receive special federal funding that other schools don’t receive. We have solid data that shows in other states that have a scholarship program, it’s roughly about 2-4-percent of the students in those schools who actually apply for those scholarships.”

Green adds that Governor Kim Reynolds wants a $3 million cap on the scholarship funding, which he says wouldn’t allow for 100-percent of those qualifying students to apply.

Greene County School Board President Dr. Steve Karber believes that if public funds are used for private schools, they need to be held to the same regulations as public schools.

“If we’re going to give state money, (there’s) got to be state regulations as well. It occurs in everything else in society. Medicare pays for your healthcare, they regulate your healthcare. Education provided by public money needs to have the same regulations whether that’s in our public schools or whether it’s at a private school.” 

Senate File 159 continues to be debated in the Iowa House.