Iowa Association of Christian Schools

The Public Policy Voice of Iowa's Protestant, Christ-Centered Schools.

We are the public policy voice of
Iowa's Protestant, Christ-centered schools.

Download The App – Stay Up To Date on IACS Actions

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Download IACS Action Center App (quick and easy)

IACS has updated our advocacy offerings to include a brand new IACS Action Center App that can be accessed on your Smartphone!

THREE EASY STEPS TO DOWNLOAD APP

  1. Search for “votervoice” (one word) in yourApp store, or you can use one of these links:

Google Play

iTUNES

  1. After you have downloaded theApp, you will be prompted to enter your email address. A verification code will be sent to that email account.
  1. After verifying your email, you will be brought to a ‘Find Association’ page. Start typing in ‘Iowa Association of Christian…’ and an option for our full Association name: ‘Iowa Association of Christian Schools’ will appear directly below where you were typing. Click/touch that full name & you’ll then have access to our new mobile app.

This will allow you to see action alerts, get notifications when new alerts are up, and interact with IACS right on your phone.  Give it a try and let us know what you think!

IACS September Newsletter

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Our latest newsletter is out!  You can download it here (PDF)!

Inside are details on next week’s Iowa ACE School Choice Summit, our Annual Meeting coming up next month, and some other updates and miscellany we think you need to know!

2016 End of Session Newsletter

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Our newsletter summarizing the 2016 session can be found here.  It outlines the victory on independent accreditation, funding issues, assessments, the ESA effort, and more.

Be sure to forward the PDF to your school parents, friends, and anyone who may be interested.

Thank you to everyone who emailed your legislators this session.  Although they didn’t pass an ESA pilot program, your emails helped us get the sunset removed on independent accreditation – our top priority for ten sessions!  Thank you!

IACS 2016 End of Session Update

Action Alert! Email Your Legislators In Support of Our Students!

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Legislators are now in the middle of debating budget bills in order to go home for the year. Iowa’s Christian schools benefit from a number of state programs and initiatives that benefit Iowa’s students that attend our schools.  Line items in the state budget that impact Christian schools:

  1. Textbooks/technology funding
  2. Transportation services
  3. School Tuition Organization (STO) tax credits providing scholarship opportunities for low-income families
  4. Area Education Agency services
  5. Tuition tax credit (25 percent of the first $1,000 spent on education) for public and private school parents

We understand that the state budget is tighter than usual this year.  The House and Senate have agreed to cut the Governor’s proposed increase of $90,000 in nonpublic textbook funding and there seems to be no forward movement on ESA, STO, or transportation this week as they look to wrap up the session.

Would you be willing to email your legislators today and ask them to seize this final opportunity of the year to pass meaningful legislation that would positively impact students in every educational setting?  The Iowa Association of Christian Schools is supporting efforts to:

  1. Repeal the sunset provision in the Independent Accreditation, ensuring Iowa’s private schools can remain accountable to taxpayers in a way that meets their unique needs and pushes them to higher levels of academic excellence.
  2. Restore funding of textbooks and technology for nonpublic school students that was cut back several years ago and hasn’t been restored.
  3. Increase funding for transportation services for nonpublic school students. Currently the state limits this funding to about 80 percent of claims. The original purpose of the funding was to make sure students get to school safely.

Christian school parents and their children save the state millions of dollars as they cover most of the cost of private school education themselves and still contribute to the public school funding through local property, income, and sales tax.

We believe parents have the right to choose the type of education that best fits their child’s needs regardless of their income or address.  Please ask your legislators to create the conditions necessary to exercise this right.

Please send a message to your legislator on these issues. We encourage you to edit the message and put it in your own words. Thanks for being willing to get involved!

Act Now! ESA Pilot Program Action Alert!

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An Education Savings Account (ESA) pilot program (HF 2284) has passed subcommittee and is now eligible for debate in the House Appropriations Committee.

The bill, as written, creates a 190-seat pilot program in the Waterloo and Sioux Center school districts.  The idea is that over a year or two, we’d be able to iron out the details and see that school choice benefits the kids involved and the community as a whole.

The intent of the bill is to include students that are not currently in private schools and would include an educational savings grant equal to the average state aid per pupil for each participant.  Although we’d prefer a statewide program out of the gate, we believe this bill provides a great opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of this type of school choice.

Please email your Representative today.  Our system makes it easy and it only takes a few minutes to make a big impact.  Thank you!