Opponents of school choice argue that having greater competition in education is unfair. The claim is made that public schools are different and have limited resources, and therefore it is an apples to oranges comparison. It is true that public schools have limited resources, but the same situation is true for private schools. The public schools also have a permanent structure of local property taxes that fund their buildings. A Kennesaw State study showed that since 1992 much more public-school dollars have gone to administration bloat rather than adding teachers. Public education also consumes 56 percent of the state’s General Fund budget. If you include local and federal dollars, Iowa Public Schools spent $9.5 BILLION in 2022! That averages out to $19,592 per student! This is well above twice the amount of private school average tuition.

Academic standards in private and public schools may be different based on curriculum. Most private schools are accredited and require licensed teachers. Private schools are held accountable to the State of Iowa Board of Education as well as Iowa law and must meet or exceed state standards.

Competition in education creates a better environment. Just as in the marketplace, competition forces a better product. If schools are forced to compete for students, it will force them to provide a better quality of product and use their dollars more wisely. As it stands now, public education has a monopoly on education. Education cannot be a one-sized-approach. Just as institutions of higher education need to compete, public schools should also compete. Iowa has numerous private colleges that are competing with the taxpayer-supported Regent Universities. Is it fair that Luther College must compete with the University of Iowa?