There are now two different Republican plans for state funding of Iowa’s K-12 schools. Governor Kim Reynolds and Senate Republicans have suggested a 2% increase in general state funding, which is based on a per pupil formula. House Republicans are proposing a 2.25% increase and House Speaker Pat Grassley said there’s more above that to cover other expenses.
“Hearing from our school districts things that are important to them like operational sharing, like cost per pupil, like transportation costs that they’re seeing, other inflationary costs, so we tried to come up with more of a menu,” Grassley said. “…We decided to add a few more things to the conversation to make sure we’re being very thoughtful about it.”
House Republicans are proposing what Grassley described as a “one-time infusion” of $22.6 million in state assistance for public school districts struggling to pay bills. “We’ve heard a lot about what the inflationary costs that school districts are facing,” Grassley told reporters during a news conference on the House floor. “…If we can try to help get through these inflationary times, that was important to us.”
The House GOP plan also would provide over $5 million more to cover busing costs and it would let school districts split up to 25 positions with another district. School districts get a state incentive to have the same person serve two districts in an operations type position, like a superintendent or H-R director. The current limit on shared positions is 22.
Grassley used the word “reasonable” to describe the education spending package House Republicans have developed. Democrats say none of the Republicans are proposing enough and the state should boost per pupil spending on schools by 5%.