Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“Why do private schools and public schools, if they’re getting the same amount of funding, not have to follow the same rules or laws or guidelines?” — Brian Johnson, superintendent of Southeast Valley School District in Webster County, on the effect on his rural public school district of state-funded Education Savings Accounts for private schools.
Rural public school districts are grappling with the effects of Iowa's funding of Education Savings Accounts, which cover tuition and other costs of private K-12 schools. (Photo by Ellen Schmidt/Minnesota Reformer)
As Iowa’s Education Savings Account program continues to expand to include all K-12 families, rural public school districts are still trying to determine how the scholarships will affect their classrooms, budgets and enrollment.
Supporters argue ESAs give families more educational choices, while critics say the program diverts money away from public schools that remain the center of many rural communities.
Iowa Rep. Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat in 2026, spoke with small business owners, teachers and others about affordability at a roundtable event held at Dough Co. in Ankeny July 31, 2026. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Democrat Josh Turek said Friday he understands Iowans' struggles with high costs of living more personally than his opponent for the U.S. Senate seat in November, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson.
Turek, a Paralympian and current state representative, held a roundtable discussion with political leaders, teachers and small business owners at Dough Co. in Ankeny to discuss affordability -- an issue he said was a top priority for his campaign and for most Iowans.
THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES
Black students and those with disabilities are much more likely to be arrested or referred to law enforcement than other students in Iowa schools with school resource officers, an American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa report published Thursday found.
A potential class-action lawsuit against an Iowa company that makes ignition interlock devices for people with drunken-driving convictions has been paused while the company completes an investigation into a cyberattack that triggered the litigation.
Close to two years after announcing plans for their strategic combination, two Iowa Catholic universities say they’re still waiting for final approvals from the U.S. Department of Education and its accrediting body, delaying a full merger and affecting the institutions’ financial picture.
The Iowa Board of Regents has formed a new committee to oversee the Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa as it prepares for a fall without classes.
The owner of a southern Iowa puppy mill where 32 dogs were found to have been neglected is currently facing no criminal charges in the case.
In a conference room at the Ericson Public Library Tuesday, cancer survivors, farmers, elected officials and community activists from Boone County discussed the things they have done to reduce their exposure to carcinogens and the things they hope will change in Iowa to help lower the state’s high cancer rates.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand said he supports banning social media for children under age 16, setting age verification and parental consent requirements on certain apps and providing more safeguards for minors online, according to a kids’ online safety policy platform released Monday.
Another proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed in federal court on behalf of food-delivery drivers in Iowa, this time targeting a large Papa John’s franchise.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Saturday Congress needs to find a balance between regulating artificial intelligence chatbots and incentivizing the growth of the country’s AI industry as he joined U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson at a roundtable in Ankeny.
Nearly 100 Iowa Farmers Union members from across the state came out Saturday to learn how several Iowa Democratic candidates plan on leading change — especially for the ag industry and the struggling farm economy.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said the party will “have more to say after November” about its path forward in the 2028 presidential nominating cycle after the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee denied Iowa a waiver to hold an early contest.
After school cellphone bans passed many statehouses with bipartisan support in recent legislative sessions, state lawmakers are turning to legislation governing how long students should spend looking at screens, Stateline reports.
NEWS FROM THE MIDWEST AND IOWA'S NEIGHBORS
A new Illinois law keeps hospital finances hidden from the public | Capitol News Illinois
Indiana preparing federal takeover application, regulations for controversial carbon storage wells | Indiana Capital Chronicle
Kansas attorney general asks three cities to undo conversion therapy bans | Kansas Reflector
False CPS report that separated Buttigieg from his children now under AG investigation | Michigan Advance
Judge halts Minnesota ban on prediction markets | Minnesota Reformer
Missouri Republicans threaten library funding over ‘rainbow story time’ | Missouri Independent
Omaha moviemaker says state-funded venture paralyzed as DED stretches suspension of $5M grant | Nebraska Examiner
North Dakota mammoth dig unearths ‘rare’ array of bones from beneath garage | North Dakota Monitor
Federal government will put 2,840 acres of Ohio’s only national forest out to bid for fracking | Ohio Capital Journal
South Dakota governor wins Republican nomination to seek his own term after succeeding Noem | South Dakota Searchlight
FEDERAL FALLOUT
States Newsroom relentlessly reports on how changes at the federal level are affecting people at the state level — and how state governments are responding in this volatile political climate. We post new stories each day; here are just a few:
New federal Medicaid rule threatens more coverage on top of Congress’ cuts, Utah advocates say | Utah News Dispatch
Trump admin’s endangered species rule change could leave Georgia’s wild places unprotected | Georgia Recorder
Canceled federal grants hit teen pregnancy prevention in Baltimore, rural counties | Maryland Matters
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