Republicans and school groups are staking out widely different positions over how much state aid should be forwarded to Iowa’s public school districts. Governor Terry Branstad and many of his fellow Republicans favor a one-and-a-quarter percent increase for the next academic year, while all the state’s major school groups are seeking a six percent hike. Representative Cecil Dolecheck, a Republican from Mount Ayr, scoffs at that.
A bill that would provide the one-and-a-quarter percent increase in general state aid to schools cleared the House Education Committee with just the votes of Republicans. Dolecheck says that level of spending is more than what many House Republicans really wanted. Margaret Buckton lobbies for the Urban Education Network AND the Rural School Association of Iowa. She says state funding for schools has lagged behind actual costs for several years.
Senate Democrats have been critical of the level of state aid for schools Republicans propose, but they have yet to offer their own target level for school spending.
