Northwest Iowa — With the new “school choice” bill that Governor Reynolds has signed into law, which would give families money for their children to attend private school, there will be some changes in northwest Iowa.
But in talking with Unity Christian High School Principal Wayne Dykstra, he says he does not anticipate an enrollment wave at their school.
Dykstra says families have to agree with Unity’s statement of faith, mission, and policies, which may not be for everyone, but he says they do have room for growth.
The new law is to give nearly $7600 in state funding per student per year to families to send each student to a private school. Dykstra says that won’t quite cover their tuition at Unity, but there are other funding sources to check into as well.
Plus, Mr. Dykstra says many churches offer financial assistance to send students to Christian schools.
On the other side, Dykstra says this new law will probably end up helping many families who have been sending their students to Unity or other private schools.
Meanwhile, a while back, we spoke to Brian VerWulf, who’s the Head of School at Western Christian High School in Hull about what was then the proposed idea of providing state funds to families to help their students attend private school, and he had this to say.
Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.