Democrats in the Iowa Senate have voted to provide Iowa’s public K-through-12 schools with a four percent increase in general state support for the school year that starts this fall. Senator Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, says without that extra level of spending, schools will have to make “tough decisions” and cut both staff and programs.

Republicans like Senator Jake Chapman of Adel say Democrats are promising more money than is available in the state budget.

The senate passed four bills dealing with school financing issues. One bill would send schools four percent more general state aid for the next academic year. A second measure would increase state support in the following year by another four year percent. The other two bills would plug state tax money into school budgets, so local property taxes for schools won’t go up in each of those years.