Governor Kim Reynolds has proposed an increase to a funding mechanism for public schools.

In her Condition of the State Address from earlier this month, Reynolds suggested a 2.5-percent of additional funding in State Supplemental Aid (SSA) for k-12 public schools. Greene County School District Superintendent Brett Abbotts says if the Iowa Legislature approves that rate, it would be another $110 per student for a total of $110,000-$120,000 with the district-wide enrollment. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that while the proposed increase would help, it wouldn’t be a significant impact.

“Even if I looked at a salary increase across our salary schedule here in Greene County (School District) that $110,000 barely puts a dent in that increase. It causes us to dip into our unspent balance from the year prior and really forces us to think, ‘How are we going to ensure that our teachers and staff have competitive wage and have competitive salary, while also making sure that we’re being fiscally responsible?’” 

As far as what the Legislature is considering, House District 47 Representative Carter Nordman (R-Panora) says the Republican caucus hasn’t had discussions about what they feel should be the increase in SSA.

“But what I will say is inflation is hurting everyone, (with) 6.1-percent, seven-percent, eight-percent, even nine-percent. It’s hurting every industry across our state and across the country. So unfortunately that brings pain, that brings pain to businesses, that brings pain to education systems. I don’t believe there’s going to be an SSA number that reaches that 6.5-percent, I don’t think that’s realistic, but inflation hurts everybody.”  

The Iowa Legislature is required to set the SSA for public schools within the first 30 days of the legislative session.