A dumpster fire ready to ignite in Iowa

It’s been 33 years since Rosanne Barr butchered the national anthem on live TV at a Padre’s baseball game. I remember asking then, “What did they expect to happen?” After all, Barr wasn’t a singer. She was an over-the-top standup comedian also starring in “Roseanne,” a sitcom shattering the myth of the “Leave it to Beaver family” on TV. Barr not only screeched the Anthem she did it while plugging her ears, giggling, and then after grabbing her crotch while spitting on the ground.

The stands erupted in boos and taunts and the Padres faced a public-relations nightmare. It all happened because Padre executives wanted to grab attention. Those two off-key minutes caused a dumpster fire taking years to extinguish.

Now, Iowa has a similar fire ready to ignite.

This one will burn Iowa financially because Gov. Kim Reynolds and her legislative lemmings rammed private school vouchers into law wanting to grab attention, and without reasonable accountability.

The question still is relevant. “What did they expect to happen?”

The number of people applying for her vouchers has already surpassed expectations. As of June 1, the Iowa Department of Education has received 15,338 applications which is 1,270 over the Legislative Service Bureau’s estimates and the deadline for applying isn’t until June 30.

If all the applicants are approved, taxpayers will be on the hook for more than the $107 million estimated for year one. It also means in the third year the $345 million estimated annual cost will be low. Money will gush from the public schools to private.

But because Reynolds’ administration is opaque, it is refusing to release the demographic information of the applicants. It’s unclear if applicants are students already attending private schools or students enrolled in public schools.

All this shouldn’t be a shock to those who voted for the private school entitlement. After all it’s $7,598 per student of free money to attend private schools, with few restrictions and virtually no accountability. That cost will grow each year because the voucher amount is tied to the public-school per pupil funding.

There are family income restrictions for the first two years of the plan and then everyone regardless of income may apply.

While Reynolds touted the voucher law as empowering parents, it empowers only a select few parents for three reasons. First, there are no rules prohibiting private schools from raising their tuition. It’s already happening.

Second, there are no requirements for private schools to accept all students. That means a parent may apply for the voucher, be granted it, and then find no private school will accept their child because of learning disabilities or just doesn’t meet other private school standards.

Third, only 55 of Iowa’s 99 counties have a private school. Yes, there may be private schools popping up, but parents will have to ask themselves a question. “Do we really want our child to attend a new, untested pop-up school?”

Republicans rushed through a plan with little planning to gain attention, and Iowa will be smelling smoke from this dumpster fire for years to come.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has worked in public schools for 38 years.