Lawmakers discuss school funding

Republican legislators appear set to give public schools about 67-and-a-half million dollars in additional state aid for the 2001/2002 school year. But lawmakers may NOT give growing schools an extra chunk of state aid to deal with packed classrooms, nor are they willing to guarantee schools with declining enrollment the same amount of state money. House Republican Leader Christopher Rants of Sioux City says it’s a tough decision.Senate President Mary Kramer, a republican from West Des Moines, says it’s a philosophical question.Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows says legislators may give schools with growing enrollment AND those with declining student numbers the authority to raise local property taxes to bolster their budgets.House Speaker Brent Siegrist, a republican from Council Bluffs, says most schools in Iowa are seeing lower student enrollment.Siegrist says that’s why the legislature will give local property taxpayers the decision of whether to keep shrinking schools open by increasing their taxes — or deciding to consolidate with neighboring districts to cut costs.