Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner says it’s long past time for statehouse Republicans to decide how much per pupil funding Iowa schools will get from the state for the next academic year.
“Do your job and stop punishing our schools with wasted time and delays,” Weiner said during a news conference late last week.
This past Saturday, March 15, was the deadline for Iowa school boards to release a budget plan for the 2025-26 school year, so the public may comment on it. Weiner says Republicans have “blown past” the February deadline in state law for letting schools know what per pupil funding levels will be.
“Governance means being responsible to the people,” Weiner said, “being responsible to Iowans.”
In January, Governor Kim Reynolds proposed a 2% increase in the state’s per pupil spending and Senate Republicans have voted for that level of funding. House Republicans have voted for a slightly higher level of per pupil spending, plus extra money for transportation budgets and an additional $22.6 million to help schools deal with general expenses that are higher due to inflation.
House Speaker Pat Grassley told reporters there’s no deal to bring up for a vote on the House floor. “If we can get in a position where we can negotiate some of those other things, we’d love to be able to get this settled and give some certainty,” Grassley said late last week.
Grassley said House Republicans intend to stand firm on their position after hearing from Iowans who favor the House GOP package.
Iowa’s K-12 public school districts must submit a final budget plan to the state by April 15 and sign all teacher contracts for the 2025-26 school year by April 30.
