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Iowa House votes on growth rate for basic aid to schools

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January 25th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The debate over K-12 education spending in the Iowa Legislature has begun to take shape with a set of procedural votes.The Republican-controlled House voted Monday for legislation that would set a new growth rate for basic aid to schools in the fiscal year that begins in July. The bill now heads to the Democratic-majority Senate, where lawmakers have indicated the proposed increase is not adequate to properly support school districts.

The chambers are expected to go back and forth with procedural votes before the issue is debated through special legislative meetings. K-12 education takes up about $3 billion of the state’s roughly $7 billion budget. Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed a growth rate that is lower than what Democrats want, but also higher than what is supported by Republicans.