Iowa governor signs 2% school funding increase

DES MOINES — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday signed a bill into law that will give Iowa’s K-12 public schools a 2 percent increase in state funding for the next school year.

This is the first bill Reynolds has signed into law this year.

Senate File 2201, which was passed by the Iowa House and Senate this month, represents a K-12 education spending package of nearly $4 billion, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Iowa Legislative Services Agency.

“Together with state, local and federal funds, Iowa schools are estimated to benefit from more than $9.1 billion in total education funding next school year,” Reynolds said at the bill signing.

Reynolds also touted investments in Iowa’s education workforce and increased STEM and work-based learning opportunities.

“These investments and more demonstrate Iowa’s commitment to empowering educators, elevating academic standards and driving accountability to ensure every Iowa student succeeds at school, work and life,” Reynolds said in a statement Thursday.

Iowa Senate Republicans initially proposed a 1.75 percent increase in K-12 state aid, while House Republicans proposed a 2.25 percent increase, before the chambers agreed on the 2 percent increase.

The legislation sets per-pupil funding at $8,148, an increase of about $160 per student. The plan includes roughly $105.9 million in new spending when factoring in other education provisions and represents a 2.7 percent overall increase in general fund support compared to the current budget year, Republican leaders said.

‘Slap in the face’

Democrats and public education advocates have argued the funding is insufficient for public schools to maintain their current budgets and that it fails to keep up with inflation, which they say will result in school closures, staffing cuts and larger class sizes.

“Another meager 2 percent increase is a slap in the face to Iowa’s students and public schools,” Jenny Turner, a West Des Moines parent and board president of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said in a news release.

“We are only going to see more programs like Boone’s century-old orchestra program being shuttered. Other districts are moving to four-day school weeks. Staff is being cut across the board, leaving teachers with unmanageable class sizes.”

Ten Iowa school districts — Cedar Rapids, Urbandale, Decorah, Cedar Falls, Albia, Belmond-Klemme, Bennett, Keokuk, South Tama and Washington — signed onto an Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement resolution calling for a 5 funding increase for schools.

From the first year under Iowa’s current public school funding formula in 1973 through 2010, general state funding to K-12 public schools increased by an annual average of 5 percent. Since Republicans regained at least partial control of the state lawmaking process in 2011, that annual increase has averaged 2.1 percent. Last year, the funding increased 3 percent.

The Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown called the budget approval a “direct hit to educational quality.”

“A 2 percent increase is effectively a cut that forces impossible choices on districts while public funds are diverted to private school vouchers — often for families already enrolled in private education," Brown said in a statement Thursday. "Ultimately, these millions should be used to close the decade-long funding gap in our public classrooms."

Tom Barton and Erin Murphy of The Gazette contributed to this report.