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Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa House Republicans send school funding bill to Gov. Reynolds amid House Democrats' warning of cuts
DES MOINES, Iowa — Eighteen hours after the Iowa Senate Republican caucus voted through the funding for public schools for fiscal year 2026, the party in the Iowa House moved to do the same. The bill locks in a 2% increase in per-pupil funding, averaging around $157 more per student, House Republicans initially asked for a 2.25% increase. There were several more increases to the funding equation pushed by the House Republican Caucus since it's education funding plan was released earlier in the year. House Republicans asked for increasing per-pupil equity by $10, it was settled down to five dollars in the final agreement with Senate Republicans. House Republicans pushed for an increase to school transportation to a statewide average of $430, which was estimated to be $5.3 million, the final agreement ended at a 5% increase, which totaled around $1 million. Republicans in both chambers agreed to a bump of 21 to 25 positions for the operational sharing budget. House Republicans had a one-time 0.6% SSA funding increase in the original caucus proposal, but that was dropped in the final agreement, which would have added $22.6 million to the budget. Regardless of what was dropped, the caucus remained optimistic about the proposal when debating on the floor. West Des Moines City Council voices concerns over stray cat populace 'Overall, this plan increases total funding by $105.9 million over last year, a 2.8% increase that strengthens our schools from top to bottom,' said State Representative Dan Gehlbach (R), District 46 from Urbandale. '… House Republicans didn't just accept the first offer on the table. We fought for more. When we first voted on this bill, we wanted more. But this plan isn't everything we originally voted on, but it's a hard fought victory that moves us forward.' House and Senate Democrats proposed a 5% increase to SSA funding, but being in the minority the plan never saw the light of day. 'It just isn't enough,' said House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst (D), District 32 from Windsor Heights. 'We hear all the time schools won't bet better by throwing money at them, and I agree. I think schools get better when we fully fund teachers, paraprofessionals, we helps schools pay the light bill, we help schools provide the services that kids need in the classroom.' 'Folks, we can't even meet inflation numbers. 2% is not enough. I'm hoping, and I was hoping in that two months our House Republicans would negotiate a little bit harder with the Senate Republicans. But it appears as though all it took was two months for them to ultimately cave to what the senate Republicans wanted. And now we are in a position where many of our school districts, at least half of them, are looking at raising property taxes,' said State Representative Larry McBurney (D), District 44 from Urbandale. The bill passed by a vote of 60 to 36, and public school funding is officially heading to Governor Kim Reynolds' desk to be signed into law. Public school districts must have budgets certified by April 15, with the final version filed to the State Department of Education by the end of the month. Iowa News: Iowa House Republicans send school funding bill to Gov. Reynolds amid House Democrats' warning of cuts WHO 13 Farm Report: Tuesday, April 8th Colfax pharmacy foresees closure if PBM reform bill doesn't pass Free pet vaccine and microchipping clinic in Ames Officer-involved shooting in Webster County following chase Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa House passes public school funding with 2.25% per-pupil spending increase
Rep. Dan Gehlbach, R-Urbandale, spoke on funding Iowa's public K-12 schools on the House floor Feb. 13, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa House passed a bill Thursday with a 2.25% per-pupil funding increase alongside other funding changes for Iowa's public K-12 schools. The move sends the legislation back to the Senate, which proposed a 2% rate. The House voted 58-35 to pass an amended version of Senate File 167, reflecting the House Republicans' State Supplemental Aid proposal introduced earlier in February. It includes a 2.25% SSA rate and other funding components like increasing transportation equity payments and adding a one-time boost of $22.6 million for per-pupil costs. The Iowa Senate passed the legislation Tuesday with a 2% SSA rate that did not include the other funding components in a 29-18 vote. Rep. Dan Gehlbach, R-Urbandale, the bill's floor manager, said the measure was a 'responsible and a sustainable increase' for Iowa's public school funding. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'We believe in funding students and not systems, and this is a year-over-year increase that we continue to see,' in addition to addressing rural school districts' needs through measures like transportation equity and incentivizing operational sharing of administrative staff between school districts, Gehlbach said. Democrats and school advocates argued the House's funding proposal, though better than the Senate's, will not provide adequate funding for Iowa's public K-12 system. House lawmakers held a public hearing before voting on the measure Thursday. While more than 900 public comments were submitted online with a vast majority opposing the legislation and calling for higher funding for Iowa's public K-12 system, only two speakers came to address members of the House Education Committee in person at the Capitol. Anne Crosse, president of the the Des Moines Education Association and Ruth Henderson, a retired teacher representing the Iowa State Education Association, both asked lawmakers at the public hearing to provide a 5% SSA increase to give schools the ability to keep up with rising costs. Crosse said many schools have outdated materials and overcrowded classes, and that a higher rate was needed to ensure students have access to quality education throughout the state. She also criticized the state's funding of the Education Savings Account program, providing public funds for private school tuition and associated costs, while not providing higher funding for public education. 'The rising cost of running our schools has not been adequately addressed,' Crosse said. 'Further, the private school voucher program in Iowa is exasperating the problem. With the state focusing on spending millions of dollars for just 40,000 students in private schools, the 480,000 students in our public schools are being shortchanged.' Henderson and others with the ISEA have called for a 'minimum' 5% SSA rate, saying higher funding of the state's public K-12 system is needed to help school districts across the state that are facing budget cuts, leading to reductions in staff and fewer resources for students from individualized attention in classrooms to extracurricular activities. 'Setting SSA lower than 5% shortchanges our students, education professionals, and communities across the state that depend on their public schools,' ISEA President Joshua Brown said in a statement. 'We implore the Iowa House to do everything they can so our public schools are best positioned to ensure our more than 480,000 students thrive.' House Democrats proposed an amendment raising the SSA rate to 5%, alongside the other funding changes proposed by House Republicans. Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, said this change was needed because Iowa public schools are in 'survival mode' due to years of lawmakers underfunding the state's public education system. 'Let's make a commitment today to support our public schools in the way we know they need, the way they have to told us they need, not just to survive, but get on a path to thriving,' Matson said. Some speakers said the 2024 law making changes to the state's Area Education Agencies has raised costs for schools, alongside other unfunded mandates proposed or enacted by state lawmakers, are adding costs to Iowa school districts while not providing resources needed for schools to implement these policies. Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport said for legislation being discussed this session requiring computer science classes for students in grades 9 through 12, and the governor's proposal on math and civics education, a 5% SSA increase is needed to make these changes 'actually achievable.' 'If school districts are mandated to make major curriculum changes, or add expensive classes like computer science, or mandated to improve scores, they must receive additional funding to make these things happen,' Kurth said. 'Funding that falls below the current prediction of inflation, which is expected to be well over 3% in the coming year, does not allow for the time and money to make these things happen.' Democrats in the Senate also proposed increasing the SSA rate to 5%. The Democrats' amendments failed in both chambers. Minority party members spoke in opposition to House Republicans' proposed 2.25% per-pupil funding rate, saying the measure will increase property taxes in many Iowa communities — an impact at odds with GOP lawmakers' stated goal of cutting property taxes this session. Matson said the House GOP funding proposal would put 146 of Iowa's public school districts on budget guarantee, meaning that needed costs will be financed through increased property taxes when supplemental state aid does not meet funding obligations. 'Six billion dollars, that is the size of Iowa's budget surplus,' Matson said. 'When I say we can do better with school funding, I mean quite literally, we have the capacity in our budget to do better. It's not a platitude, our amendment will increase school funding by $401 per student, rather than $186. Our amendment would significantly decrease the number of school districts that will need to raise local property taxes just to make ends meet.' House Speaker Pat Grassley told reporters after floor debate that while Iowa school districts are all impacted by the Legislature's appropriations, he noted that organizations including the School Administrators of Iowa, Iowa Association of School Boards and Rural School Advocates of Iowa were registered in support of the House proposal — a 'strong sign' that the measure reflects the needs of Iowa school districts. 'That's why we brought this bill forward, because it fits the needs of the schools … all across different school districts in Iowa,' Grassley said. The amended legislation returns to the Senate for consideration. Grassley said that he has had conversations with members of the Senate about the House proposal about the additional funding components included in the legislation. 'I think we were in a position where we wanted to take firm action so that we could show, as a House, we supported this plan,' he said. '… I'm hopeful, as this bill now goes back to the Senate, they will take a look at what some of those other things are (on top of) the SSA.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
