Iowa announces $4M in grants for charter schools

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced which charter schools would receive the first $4 million of the state’s new grant program.

“Public charter schools provide yet another school choice for parents and guardians looking for the education that’s best suited for their children’s abilities and needs,” Reynolds said in Friday’s press release. “I applaud these industrious charter school administrators, board members and community leaders for expanding educational opportunities for students and families in their local communities.”

The money is being disbursed through the Iowa Charter Start-Up and Expansion Grant program.

Six new charters will receive $500,000 apiece for facilities, transportation, curriculum and other equipment. An additional five pre-existing charters will receive $200,000 to expand career and technical programing.

State education department director McKenzie Snow added the awardees all demonstrated “commitment to serving students, families, and communities alongside educators across Iowa.”  

Iowa school administrators thanked Reynolds for investing in their schools. 

“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity, and we will make great use of that money to provide opportunities for kids,” said Charles Mausser, principal of Empowering Excellence Charter School, one of the grant recipients.  

Another awardee, Justin Blietz of Quest Forward Academy, said the funding would go toward expenses such as science and computer labs and providing each student with learning technology.  

Because charter schools are at liberty to innovate outside the traditional public-school mold, they’ve become a popular option for families nationwide. According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, charter enrollment in Iowa nearly doubled between 2019 and 2023. 

During the same time frame, enrollment at government-run schools dropped over 1%.  

However, not everyone supports investing in charter schools.  

“Kim Reynolds is showing once again that her priorities for Iowa’s kids are harmful,” said Rita Hart, chair of Iowa’s Democrat Party. “She’s sending millions of dollars to private schools that can turn kids away for any reason.   

“Her policies are especially damaging to rural families who don’t have access to the private schools that are receiving these extra resources. We need to put this money back in public schools so everyone can have equal access to education.”   

Although they are privately operated, charter schools are still fundamentally public schools – government-funded, tuition-free and available to all students.   

But Iowa has also been a champion of private school choice, and was one of the first states to enact universal school choice.   

Its education savings account program has nearly 17,000 participants in its first year.