The Iowa Legislature is in the process of determining the amount of state aid schools will receive in the next fiscal year. The Iowa House has matched Governor Kim Reynolds’ proposal of a 2.5% per pupil funding increase, while the Iowa Senate passed a 2.2% increase.

District 79 State Representative Dustin Hite says that number continues what he calls years of sustainable, reliable increases for districts as they plan for the next year — and that increase would stay in effect for the following fiscal year if many of the families who opted out of public education return this coming fall. He says there is legislation in both chambers that would provide additional resources to school districts that returned to in-person instruction this fall, which is intended to supplement federal funding, especially for districts that had their money from Congress tied to need-based measures from the Title I requirements.

Hite says setting state supplemental aid for public schools is the first major step that sets the rest of the table for Iowa’s budgeting process.