Randy Feenstra

Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Feenstra said he supports taxpayer-funded initiatives to help send Iowa kids to private schools, but he said private schools in exchange should have to accept every child who applies.

That's not the case in Iowa, where private schools can choose not to accept students, including those who are LGBTQ, have disabilities or need additional support.

It's been a major point of contention for Democrats who have broadly opposed the creation of taxpayer funded Education Savings Accounts. Those ESAs provide about $8,000 to help cover the costs of nonpublic education for any Iowa child, regardless of the family's ability to pay.

About 41,000 students used an education savings account to help cover private school costs during the 2025-26 school year at a cost to the state of about $327.9 million.

"I am supportive of the idea of ESAs," Feenstra said during a question-and-answer session with the Westside Conservative Club Wednesday, April 8. "I just will say this, is that every school has to make sure they take every child. Right? If we have to compete on a level playing field, the playing field has to be level all the way. That's so important."

He told the group he believes competition between public and private schools helps fuel success across the board.

Feenstra, who is serving a third term as U.S. Representative in Iowa's 4th Congressional District, is one of five Republicans seeking his party's nomination for governor.

He has made restoring "world-class education" one of the pillars of his campaign pitch to voters. He says the key to thriving education is to cut down on bureaucracy and focus on teaching "the fundamentals of math, science and history, and not DEI and not all this other political agenda junk."

He told reporters after the event he believes schools should accommodate children with Individualized Education Program, or IEP, plans. Currently, private schools do not have to honor IEP plans set up to help kids, such as special education students, who need modifications and supports in the classroom.

"When we start looking at raising all boats, we have to make sure that all schools can take all kids," Feenstra said. "If you have a child that has an IEP and you're a parent, the parents should decide, hey, I want my child to go to that school, and the schools should accommodate. Again, it's all about making sure we have a level playing field, and it's all about making sure that all schools are competing the same way."

He framed it as an extension of the "choice" he wants parents to have.

"I'm a supporter of ESAs, and I just want to make sure as a parent that my child can go to whatever school I want my child to go to," he said.

Nancy Vaught, an 80-year-old West Des Moines resident, attended the event with Feenstra. She said she likes what she's heard from Republican governor candidates Adam Steen and Brad Sherman, but she said she's leaning toward supporting Feenstra in the primary race.

"I was very impressed with him," she said. "I think he addressed a lot of issues that need to be addressed, and he's got good experience, and I think he will get the job done."

She said the economy and education are her top two issues when considering a governor candidate.

"The politics and DEI and all of this sex stuff needs to get out of the school system," she said. "It needs to get back to the basics."

But Vaught says she's torn over the ESA program.

"A lot of those people would be going (to private schools) anyway, whether they had the tax credit or not," she said. "But, you know, they do pay taxes also, so I guess you can look at it both ways. You know, their tax dollar will will help (their student), but then is that taking away from another child that their parents wouldn't be able to even afford it with that?"

Some legislative Republicans disagree with Feenstra's comments on ESAs

Feenstra's comments appeared to rankle some Iowa Republicans, including state Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, who chairs the House Education Committee.

"Choice goes both ways," he said in a statement. "Once the state starts dictating admissions, it's only a matter of time before it dictates curriculum, staffing and operations. That's not school choice, that's government-run private education, and we don't want to go down this route. The ESA program is a great one. We don't need to capitulate to debunked claims by the left who want to continually attack families who simply want a different learning environment for their children."

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, told reporters April 9 that some members of his caucus had "a little bit of a disagreement with that statement that was being said."

"I know members of the caucus have had conversations with Congressman Feenstra since that point in time," he said. "I would just say we feel the program is working really well right now, clearly. It has a tremendous amount of usage within the program."

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters separately that Feenstra had also reached out to her to discuss what he'd said.

"He called yesterday, said, 'Hey, I think some of my comments got taken out of context,'" she said. "So he is very, very, very supportive of families having choice, freedom of choice in education, is 100% supportive. And so he just wants to make sure that it's fair in how we allocate the funds."

But Democratic leaders embraced Feenstra's comments.

"I think he's correct, and I think that he should probably look at limits on income as well," said House Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines. "There's a lot of problems with ESAs. The fact that they can deny any child access is problematic. So I think if you're going to take an ESA as a school, you ought to be taking all the kids, just like public schools need to."

Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said she agreed with Meyer and private schools "ought to be taking all the kids."

"We also ought to be able to audit ESAs and hold the non-public schools accountable," she said.

State Auditor Rob Sand, the lone Democrat running for governor, has also said schools taking taxpayer ESA funding should be required to accept all children.

But he has gone further in arguing that the ESA program needs more state oversight and should include an income cap so only families who need the assistance receive it.

Des Moines Register reporters Stephen Gruber-Miller and Marissa Payne contributed to this story.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.