Taylor Wettach, the Democrat who’s running to be Iowa’s next state auditor, says there should be more transparency about private school budgets now that the state is projected to spend $330 million a year to cover tuition and other expenses for K-12 students in private schools.
“A lot of folks are really concerned about that,” Wettach said. “And we’re not saying that folks can’t go to private schools. What we are saying that if you’re taking taxpayer money, people should be able to know where that money’s going.”
For this school year, $8148 of state money will be deposited in an Education Savings Account set up by the parent of a private school student. Wettach is joining those who say private school budgets should be more transparent to the public since the accounts require tuition to be paid first, and the average tuition for private schools in Iowa is around $9000. “Folks have not had the sort of accountability of where that money’s going that they deserve,” Wettach said.
State Auditor Rob Sand, the Democrat who is running for governor, has had an ongoing dispute with Governor Reynolds and her staff over access to data about the state’s Education Savings Account program. Reynolds has said Sand has been seeking information that’s beyond the scope of his authority as state auditor. Wettach suggests that should set off alarms. “If there’s nothing to see here, let the state auditor do his job,” Wettach said. “It’s kind of like ‘The Wizard of Oz’ folks. They’re telling you, ‘pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.’ Well if they’re telling you, ‘pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,’ you should probably look behind the curtain and that’s what we’re looking forward to doing when we get in there.”
Wettach made his comments during an appearance on The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the State Fair. The Republican running for state auditor is Chris Cournoyer, who’s currently Iowa’s lieutenant governor. She made appearances on the fairgrounds, but did not give a speech during the fair.