Steve Dunn is a retired journalist who has self-published two books, about former State Senator Pat Deluhery’s political career and the history of professional baseball in Des Moines. This essay first appeared on his Substack newsletter, Blasts and Bunts.

As I wrap up another nine months of volunteering at an elementary school, I reflect on what the state of Iowa is doing to its once-admired public school system.

To put it simply, the Republican-controlled legislature and Governor Kim Reynolds are tearing apart K-12 public education in the name of parental choice.

Of course, parents have always had a choice of where they could send their kids to school. Most opted for public schools. Others preferred private schools if they could afford it.

The first public school in Iowa was located in Lee County at the southeastern tip of the state in 1830. The 10-by-12-foot one-room school made from logs split by hand was named after Dr. Isaac Galland. Berryman Jennings taught six to eight students at a time before the school closed three years later.

A second replica of the school was built in 1977 on Mississippi River Road in Montrose and serves as a museum. My former Kiwanis Club in nearby Keokuk helped maintain the museum, which is open by appointment only.

In fact, Iowa had 12,623 rural schools from 1858 to 1966, according to the Library of Congress. All but a few remain as monuments to the past. My only one-room school experience occurred recently when I helped with a third-grade spelling test at the Bennett School Museum in West Des Moines. Time was not an issue for me, so I stayed afterward to help compile the students’ scores.

State funding doesn’t keep up with inflation

So, with all this in mind, what is the state of public education in the Hawkeye state? Per-pupil spending has averaged 2 percent a year for the past 14 years, according to Common Good Iowa. K-12 public schools will receive the same 2 percent in 2026-2027, while inflation has averaged from 0.1 percent to 8 percent during the 14-year period. The 2 percent increase will hike the state’s per pupil spending to $8,148, up $160. The Iowa State Education Association had called for a 5 percent increase in per-pupil spending.

The years 2021 to 2024 were especially difficult for K-12 public schools. Inflation averaged from 2.9 percent to 8 percent over that period.

While Reynolds and other Republican leaders brag about the amount of money they’ve given public education, it’s clear the state has not kept up with inflation. House Minority Leader Brian Meyer told reporters earlier this year that a lot of public schools “are going to close” because of the decade-plus-long underfunding of education at the K-12 level. “A lot of schools are going to be having to raise property taxes to cover the amount that they lose,” he added.

Reynolds has claimed the state’s public schools will get more than $9.1 billion in local, state and federal funds in 2026-2027. Yes, that sounds like a lot of money. But in 2025, Iowa was nowhere near the top of the list of per-pupil spending including local, state and federal sources. New York ($30,012) and Vermont ($28,818) spent more than twice than Iowa at $14,369, according to worldpopulationreview.com. The top ten states in terms of per-pupil spending from local, state and federal sources also included New Jersey ($26,280), Connecticut ($25,801), Hawaii ($23,878), New Hampshire ($22,978), Massachusetts ($22,947), Delaware ($22,201), Rhode Island ($22,110), and Pennsylvania ($21,091).

Three neighboring states spend more per pupil than Iowa, including all three sources: Illinois ($20,253), Minnesota ($17,098), and Nebraska ($16,147). However, Iowa tops Missouri ($14,241) and South Dakota ($12,828).

Tax cuts, school vouchers

The reduction of the state income tax and the advent of a school voucher program have adversely impacted the state’s k-12 public schools, too. The Des Moines Register found earlier this year that 99 percent of the state’s private schools are now funded by public funds under the program that was established three years ago. The school vouchers that enable parents to send their children to private schools will cost Iowa taxpayers $350 million in the next fiscal year. That’s $350 million that could go to public schools.

Unfortunately for taxpayers, private schools that receive school voucher funds are not subject to many of the requirements that public schools must meet in terms of budgets, public meetings and audits. Last year, State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democratic candidate for Congress, compared the vouchers to “money laundering.”

Homeschool changes enacted

Another bill Reynolds signed this year could also have adverse impacts on K-12 public schools. House File 2754 shifts the funding for the state teacher salary supplement cost per pupil to go to the charter school where the student is enrolled — funding that now goes to the school district where the student lives. This would transfer approximately $1.3 million to charter schools based on current enrollment, per the Legislative Services Agency.

Under the bill, public school districts would have to make athletic and other extracurricular activities available to charter school students who live in that district. That’s an added cost to public schools. In addition, independent private instructors could teach an unlimited number of unrelated students at the same time and charge tuition, fees and other compensation for homeschool services. Democratic leaders contend the latter changes could endanger students, because homeschool options don’t have to meet the same safety and accountability standards that typical schools must meet.

As the current school year ends, I can’t but help think about what our forefathers and mothers would say about the current situation regarding K-12 public education in Iowa. For a state that had 12,623 rural schools over a 108-year-old period, we can no longer claim that we have one of the best K-12 public educational systems in the country.

I wouldn’t expect that to change if Republicans remain in control of the legislature and governor’s office. All five GOP candidates for governor—Randy Feenstra, Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, Eddie Andrews, and Brad Sherman—support expanding the school voucher program. In fact, Steen even opposes oversight for school vouchers.