House Republican proposal would increase public education funding above Reynolds’ proposal

The governor only wants a 2% increase to public school funding. Iowa Democrats have called for a 5% increase. House Republicans have released a school funding increase that would fall somewhere in the middle. 

Iowa House Republicans have agreed to a school funding proposal that is higher than the 2% increase agreed to by Gov. Kim Reynolds and Senate Republicans. House Speaker Pat Grassley said their plan would increase funding by $149.2 million from fiscal year 2025 (school year 2024-2025).

“We’ve also been hearing from some of our school districts about things that are important to them: like operational sharing, like cost per pupil like transportation cost that they’re seeing and other inflationary costs,” Grassley said during a press availability Thursday morning. 

School district budgets are based on enrollment headcounts and the rate that the Iowa Legislature sets for per pupil percent of growth for the next school year. This is called State Supplementary Aid or SSA. 

The proposal laid out by Gov. Kim Reynolds during her Condition of the State address, and supported by Senate Republicans, would set SSA at 2%. House Democrats have called a 5% increase to SSA. 

Grassley is proposing one bill that would increase SSA by 2.25% as well as fund the second phase of teacher pay increase that next year moves the minimum teacher salary up to $50,000. According to an estimate provided by his office, this would cost $114.5 million. 

In addition he’s calling for a “menu” of options for funding that more flexibly addresses the needs of districts. Grassley says his bill will include the following categories and cost estimates:

• “Increase per pupil equity by $10” – $5.8 million – The proposal would aim to minimize the differences Iowa’s school funding formula creates across school districts. 
• “Increase School Transportation” – $5.3 million – School transportation costs vary by district. The bill would increase the average spent across the state up to $430
• “Increased operational sharing budget” – $1 million – Operational sharing incentivizes districts to share personnel. Currently, they are limited at 21 FTEs in the district. The new proposal would increase that to 25.

The last piece of his proposal features a one-time 0.6% increase to SSA which he says will help districts respond to inflationary pressures. 

Grassley’s proposal has not been introduced as a bill. It would have to find purchase in both chambers and be signed by the governor before becoming law.