Senate Delays Decision on 2012 School Funding

January 18, 2010

 Iowa’s K-12 public school districts will have to wait a year before they know how much state foundation aid funding they can expe ct for their fiscal 2012 budgets.

The Senate voted 46-0 Thursday to delay for one year a statutory requirement to establish the percentage “allowable growth” increase for K-12 schools and accompanying educational funding categories for the 2011-12 school year.

“This is just for one year. This is not a precedent that we want to set because I think over time it’s been proven that setting these growth numbers two years in advance is good for everybody,” said Sen. Heckroth, D-Waverly. “It’s a one-year exception.”

Senators decided to forego the forward-funding provision until next session because of the uncertainty surrounding the state budget and projected tax collections. Iowa law requires lawmakers and the governor to approve the allowable growth rate for the next school year within 30 days of the governor’s budget proposal.

Plunging state revenues in the current fiscal year forced Gov. Chet Culver to order an across-the-board cut last October that included a $227.2 million hit for Iowa’s 361 public school districts and raised questions whether the state can afford the roughly $70 million needed to meet the 2 percent allowable growth commitment for fiscal 2011.