CrestonCreston, a town of more than 7,500 people, has two private schools along with its public school district. Johnson said Iowa public and private schools “play by different rules,” despite both receiving public funding, and that’s “unfair.” “The majority of Iowans will still send their kids to the public school, but public schools might have to rethink their approach and the legislators might have to rethink the approach to school finance. School districts and school boards, in particular, will have to look at how many, for instance, non-teaching staff they employ.” Vander Hart argued concerns about public school districts losing funding are overstated, saying public schools still receive approximately $1,600 in per pupil funding for ESA recipients who leave public schools.