Op-ed: On Governor’s Voucher Law, Some Claims About Accountability Don’t Add Up

Recently, an argument has been going around that goes like this: private schools are accredited to teach students, therefore they’re accountable to taxpayers. The problem with this argument is that it ignores that accreditation as an academic institution has nothing to do with how an entity spends money. Accredited private schools taking vouchers still have no rules for how they spend tax dollars, and no audits either.

The authors of the governor’s school voucher bill knew that accreditation doesn’t impact oversight of spending, and in fact they wanted it that way. When I noticed the bill had just one restriction on the use of taxpayer funds once those dollars are turned over to the private schools (rebates to parents aren’t allowed)—I was sure there was some kind of mistake. No, said the bill’s advocate. That’s the point: “We do not want public oversight of private schools” were his exact words. I would guess most taxpayers agree with me that we want public oversight of public dollars, though.

Private schools receiving funds through the voucher program are not subject to the same budgeting requirements, public meetings, or audit obligations as public schools. This means there is no public tracking of how these taxpayer dollars are spent once they reach private school coffers. Where there is lack of oversight, there is invitation for misuse of funds. I’ve been State Auditor and chief public corruption prosecutor for a combined decade and a half, so I can tell you this: no amount of public corruption was discovered because there was too little sunshine on the tax spenders.

The extraordinary loopholes given to private schools help them avoid the kind of oversight required of public schools that receive tax dollars. When private schools receive tax dollars, they are not obligated to have annual audits or examinations, there are no requirements for open meetings, and parents (who are supposedly the ones in charge) have no legal right to see records or attend meetings at will. In fact, private school administrators can spend your tax dollars on steak dinners and wine for prospective parents for students they want to recruit, and that’s totally legal—and nearly impossible to find out about!

At the State Auditor’s Office, we issue reports calling out misspent money every year that is much less wasteful than the examples I cited above. That’s what Iowans expect, and it’s how it should be. Iowa’s school voucher law would be easier for its opponents to understand if it included some common-sense provisions for transparency and accountability for the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars it spends. Nobody is saying public school tax-spenders are free from sin. Schools are run by human beings; of course, there are bound to be mistakes—that’s why the Auditor’s Office exists. That’s precisely why every public school gets an audit every year. It’s only fair that if private schools get taxpayer funds to the tune of $7,800 per pupil, they should get an audit, too.

Iowa’s public and private schools are both incredibly important in shaping the future of our state. Some of our best leaders and thinkers have come from both our public and private educational institutions. This isn’t about pitting public versus private—it’s about ensuring that everyone is on a level playing field. Iowa’s school voucher law was designed to prevent basic accountability and transparency. Iowans of all political backgrounds should want accountability in government—no matter who’s in charge.