Des Moines, Iowa — Some House Republicans are publicly stating their opposition to the governor’s plan to create state scholarships to cover expenses for sending 10-thousand students to a private school.
Republican Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids, who is opposed to the bill, says the votes just aren’t there in the House to pass it.
There are more than a dozen private schools in the Des Moines metro, including Dowling Catholic and Des Moines Christian High Schools, while 42 of Iowa’s 99 counties do not have a private or parochial school. Yet here in our area, O’Brien, Sioux and Lyon counties are home to more than a dozen private grade schools and high schools.
Jones says the 55-million dollar price tag for the governor’s private school scholarships is also a worry.
Jones is vice chair of the legislative committee that meets year-round to oversee state regulations. The Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and a retiring Republican lawmaker from Walcott announced at a forum in the Quad Cities that they are opposed to the spending plan.
