Iowa Senate school funding bill falls short

School districts across Iowa are struggling with budget problems.

Cedar Rapids is considering closing and consolidating several schools as part of a plan to tame a $13 million shortfall. Des Moines is dealing with a $16 million deficit. In Boone, the district discontinued its orchestra.

It’s not rocket science. Rising costs and declining enrollment are sapping education resources. Districts are cutting programs, teaching positions and other spending areas to keep their budgets balanced.

At this time of year, districts hope the Iowa Legislature will receive their distress signals as they decide how much to increase state aid to K-12 schools. Some groups have called for a 5 percent increase, which is a non-starter in our Republican-controlled Legislature.

A 3 percent increase would exceed the 2.7 percent Midwest inflation rate.

But this week, the Iowa Senate approved a paltry 1.75 percent increase in state school funding for regular district operations, a plan that drew nearly universal criticism from education leaders. GOP Sens. Charlie McClintock, Jeff Taylor and Cherielynn Westrich joined Democrats in opposing the plan.

According to the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency, the state’s cost per pupil will increase to $8,133 in Fiscal Year 2027, which starts in July. Overall, regular program aid will decline from $2.177 billion to $2.135 billion. That’s because 208 districts lost enrollment and would see a decrease in per-pupil aid.

Property taxes usually fill that gap. But the Senate bill provides $47.7 million from the state general fund to keep districts’ budgets from shrinking. It’s called the “budget guarantee” and will allow them to spend 101 percent of the previous year’s spending level.

So, at the bottom line, per-pupil funding will increase by $145 in FY 2027. Is that the best we can do?

The Senate funding level doesn’t keep up with inflation, which has become an almost annual tradition since Republicans took over the Statehouse.

Thanks to a series of deep income tax cuts, Iowa is now spending more money than it collects in revenue to the tune of $1.3 billion. Yes, there are surpluses and reserve funds lawmakers can tap, but those sources of funding are dwindling. Republicans also created publicly funded private school scholarships that will cost $350 million in 2027. The Legislature has approved a mountain of edicts but only a molehill of funding.

Pressures from tax cuts and other spending priorities are squeezing public school funding in the annual contest for state funding.

So, this is a problem Republican lawmakers created for public schools, which have been a repeated target in the GOP’s culture war book bans and teaching restrictions.

Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed a 2 percent increase in state school aid. House Republicans have indicated they will not accept a 1.75 percent rate and are likely to spend more.

It’s all about percentages and spreadsheets. But few, if any, Republicans are talking about what public schools really need to educate the citizens and workforce of tomorrow and the resources they need to do the job. And that’s exactly where the focus must be.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com