DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa House has approved a bill increasing K-12 education spending by 1.1 percent, a move school officials say will result in larger classroom sizes and school district shortfalls.
The House approved the measure late Monday. The Senate already has passed the bill, which now goes to Gov. Terry Branstad.
Before the vote, a group that included school board members, parents and students gathered at the Capitol in opposition to the legislation, which adds about $40 million to a roughly $3 billion education budget. Republican lawmakers say the small increase is all the state can afford.
Pat Murphy serves as the president of the Le Mars Community School Board. He says he is disappointed the state legislature didn’t appropriate more money to education.
Murphy isn’t certain what will be the consequences to the Le Mars Community School District due to the low amount of appropriations on the public education.
The Le Mars Community Board of Education president says he is deeply concerned about the pattern the state legislature has shown for education spending during the past several years. Murphy wonders if the legislature has public education
as its top priority.
