“We moved here from Raleigh, North Carolina and live on an acreage just outside the city limits of Glenwood, Iowa. We drive down three miles of gravel road to get to our house.”

“I got a job offer in Omaha, but we didn’t want to live in the city. We found this wonderful rural farming community here in southwest Iowa and decided to put down roots and start a family here. We love it.”

“We have a three-year-old and a one-year-old now. Coming from North Carolina, where they have a lot of school choice, I was kind of shocked at how limited the options were in Iowa. I was stuck with the traditional public school.”

“Public schools work for many kids, but as a family we would love a parochial option for our children. But the closest Lutheran parochial option is in Nebraska, a solid 45-minute drive!”

“For now, we have our son in a private preschool two days a week, because that’s important to us. But we started thinking, he’s three now but he’ll be turning five any day – that time will fly – what do we want to do when it comes to education?”

“Closer to us is a very good Catholic high school in Council Bluffs, that we would love to send our kids to. A lot of the people in this community send their kids to that school and there is actually a bus that comes out from Glenwood to pick up the kids.”

“Unfortunately, the tuition is very expensive and it is currently outside of our budget. My husband and I both work, but we’re also raising a family and I don’t think we’d be able to afford sending our children there. There are less expensive options in Nebraska, but we don’t want to send our son across the state line every day. He lives in Iowa; his friends are in Iowa.”

“Education savings accounts would make it possible for my kids to attend the school that best fits them. The majority of our community is very happy with the local public school, and that’s fine, but there are many of us are looking for an alternative that is more in tune with our children’s needs.”

“Looking at our income and what we spend, sending our son to St. Albert’s would more than likely be financially impossible for us. An education savings account, even if it was only $1,000, would help so much and likely make it possible for us to send him there.”

“I know of one family that doesn’t have a lot of extra money laying around, and an education savings account would make a huge difference for them.”

“Another family, with multiple kids, has one that wants to go to private school, and the parents know she would do better at private school – but they can’t afford it. They said with an education savings account it would be possible for them.”

“In North Carolina, we have charter schools, and they compete with our public schools. I went to public school, back home, but my nieces and nephews there all go to charter schools. I’ve seen my family experience these choices and have seen the outcomes in an environment where families have these choices.”

“I know more school choice is a good thing for our kids. When people say this is going to hurt the public schools or it is going to hurt the kids, I think people ought to look to these other states and see their experiences.”

“It’s exactly the opposite. More school choice would help kids and help the public schools become more aware of what they’re not offering.”

Sarah Curry
Parent
Glenwood, IA