Many local school districts have been required to approve teacher pay and set public hearing for tax rates despite not having final answers from the Iowa Legislature on budget numbers for the upcoming fiscal year.

State Representative Barb Kniff McCulla says lawmakers have passed House File 2630 with all but one vote in favor, which increases base teacher pay across the state over the next two years for starting educators. From there, she says the Iowa House has passed a three percent per pupil increase in state aid and for Education Savings Accounts.

The Senate has attached House File 2613 to their own version, but have not come up with a number. Kniff McCulla says proposed changes to Area Education Agencies could also be a cause for the delay on school funding in the Iowa Senate, where the teacher pay provisions are still attached to that measure.