Bishop William Joensen and co-host Jeanne Thill welcome writer, blogger and 4:15 Communications founder Shane Vander Hart to examine the campaign-season slogan "No public money for private schools" — and why he argues the logic behind it is never applied to health care, food assistance or higher education. Vander Hart shares his conversion story at Drake University, explains how Iowa's Students First education savings accounts actually work, and answers the most common objections about accreditation, audits, tuition increases and public school funding. Bishop Joensen opens the show with reflections from the diocesan pilgrimage to Poland, including Auschwitz-Birkenau, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and the Divine Mercy Shrine in Kraków. Why school choice opponents' slogan doesn't survive its own logic How an ESA differs from a voucher — and who controls the money Accreditation, audits and the accountability question Why nonpublic tuition rose before ESAs ever existed Auschwitz, Divine Mercy and hope from the darkest night
Segment 1 — Poland: Auschwitz, Divine Mercy and the Saints of the Darkest Night
Bishop William Joensen opens from the road, reflecting on the Diocese of Des Moines pilgrimage to Poland with Catholic speaker and author Jon Leonetti. The group visited Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II–Birkenau, where the Bishop recalls St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) — the Jewish philosopher drawn to the Church through the writings of St. Teresa of Ávila, who entered Carmel and was deported to Birkenau. He shares her words on souls united to God, and quotes St. John Paul II kneeling at what the pontiff called the Golgotha of the modern world. The following day brought the group to the Divine Mercy Shrine of St. Faustina in Kraków-Łagiewniki and the neighboring "Have No Fear!" St. John Paul II Centre, where the cassock worn during the 1981 assassination attempt is displayed. He asks prayers for Pope Leo, and for all listeners across the Iowa Catholic Radio Network and Spirit Catholic Radio Network.
Learn more about the pilgrimage at jonleonetti.com/poland
Segment 2 — Shane Vander Hart: A Fool for Christ, and a Slogan Worth Questioning
Shane Vander Hart is the founder of 4:15 Communications, a Des Moines marketing and PR firm named for Ephesians 4:15 — speaking the truth in love. He founded and edited Caffeinated Thoughts and The Iowa Torch, and his work has appeared in the Des Moines Register, POLITICO, The Hill, Daily Caller and Fox News.
He tells Bishop Joensen about a childhood in a United Methodist church, drifting from faith, and a sophomore-year search at Drake University that ended in his dorm room in 1992 — on April Fool's Day. "I became a fool for Christ on April Fool's Day."
The conversation turns to his article, "The Problem with 'No Public Money for Private Schools'" — a response to a slogan appearing in Iowa campaign messaging and, he notes, painted on barns. His argument: the principle is never applied consistently. Public dollars flow to private providers in health care, food assistance, housing and higher education — the GI Bill and Pell Grants among them. He points to Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that a state need not subsidize private education, but once it does, it cannot disqualify schools solely because they are religious — a ruling that Justice Alito tied to nineteenth-century Blaine amendments, which were often motivated by anti-Catholic bias. The First Amendment Encyclopedia
His preferred framing: fund students, not systems. He is emphatic that school choice is not an attack on public education — most Iowa students will be educated in public schools, and he wants them to flourish. He also notes that open enrollment between public districts is used by a large share of families and rarely makes headlines.
Read the article: iowaace.org
Learn more at ShaneVanderHart.com and 415communications.com
Segment 3 — ESAs Explained: Not Vouchers, and the Accountability Question
Vander Hart draws the distinction listeners most often get wrong: an education savings account is not a voucher. With a voucher, funding generally moves from the state directly to a school from an approved list. With an ESA, funds are deposited into an account the parent controls; in Iowa, nonpublic tuition is paid first, and remaining approved expenses — books, online courses, educational therapies, band equipment — must go through approved vendors in the ESA marketplace.
Program facts, verified:
He also disputes that ESAs caused tuition increases: nonpublic tuition was already rising under a funding model that capped enrollment growth, and demand now means more classrooms, more teachers and better pay. Bishop Joensen notes the Des Moines Catholic school region is currently undergoing an audit by a licensed public accounting agency — accountability, he says, is already built in. He also references the state's teacher pay law; under the 2024 law, salaries for new teachers must be at least $50,000 effective July 1, 2025, a benchmark diocesan schools can now compete with. Ahlerslaw
Vander Hart, who homeschooled his three children in Indiana while serving as a youth pastor, says his advocacy predates his current roles with the Iowa Association of Christian Schools and the Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education. He worships at Cottage Grove Church in Des Moines, which does not operate a school.
Learn more at iowaace.org • iowachristianschools.org • cottagegrovedsm.com
Iowa ESA program details: educate.iowa.gov
Also mentioned
Christ Our Life Catholic Conference — Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, at Casey's Center (formerly Wells Fargo Arena), 233 Center St., Des Moines. All-weekend in-person and livestream passes are $30 for adults; youth ages 23 and under are free. Learn more at ChristOurLifeIowa.com DioSCG
Diocese of Des Moines Catholic Schools — 16 schools serving roughly 6,600 students. Learn more at dmdiocese.org/catholic-schools