The Rozenboom Report – January 31st 2025

by Senator Ken Rozenboom
Senate Republicans propose new funding for K-12 education

Senate Republicans released our funding proposal for K-12 education for the 2025-26 school year this week. We are proposing a $235 million increase over last year, bringing the total funding for K-12 students from the state budget to $4.2 billion, and is the same amount proposed by Governor Reynolds.

Senate Study Bill 1053 continues our philosophy of responsible budgeting and our commitment to Iowa students. It provides money for students going to public school, students utilizing education savings accounts, and students attending charter schools. It also funds the teacher pay increase passed in the 2024 session, the largest teacher pay increase in Iowa’s history. Now in the second year of enactment, beginning teachers will start at $50,000 and teachers with more than twelve years of experience will be receiving at least $62,500.

Over the last several years, the legislature and Governor have expanded education options available to Iowa families. Those options include open enrollment for all students, educational savings accounts for families that choose non-public schools, and expanded charter school options. Public schools in Iowa will receive an increase of over $123 million for a total of $3.9 billion in total General Fund state aid spending. The education savings account program will receive an increase of $96.6 million, coming to a total of $315 million. Charter schools also receive an increase of $14.5 million.

With state funding alone, we are spending $7,983 per student in Iowa. When we include both state and local funding, K-12 students in Iowa receive over $6 billion from Iowa taxpayers. When all funding sources are considered, such as property taxes, state aid, federal dollars and other sources, public schools in Iowa will receive an estimated $18,722 per student next school year.

Funding for K-12 education in Iowa has been receiving steady, sustainable increases since 2017. Our proposed increase in funding continues our conservative budgeting practices and does so in a timely matter so schools across the state can start planning their budgets.

Cell phone use in schools

This week we received policy language from Governor Kim Reynolds as she begins a discussion about cell phone use policy in K-12 schools. For a number of years we have been focused on improving achievement in schools, making classrooms a better place for learning, and ensuring that schools are concentrating on preparing students for success both in school and into their adult years. Cell phone use in the classroom is an issue of increasing concern for Iowans, and I am looking forward to this discussion with our school administrators, school boards, and the families of Iowa students.

The blizzard of newly filed bills continues

My stated philosophy going into the 2025 legislative session was that ‘doing less is better than doing more’ because I believe Iowa is in a good position right now and we don’t have to fix a lot of things. However, it seems that not everyone shares my philosophy because over 500 bills have already been filed in the House and Senate, and more are coming in each day.

I chair the Senate State Government Committee now, and to date 26 bills have been sent to my committee for consideration. There will be several more on my desk on Monday. I ask the same question of everyone that sends me a new bill: What are we trying to fix, and why? If they can make the case, we’ll move forward with the process. If they can’t, the bill stays in my desk.

That’s not to say that I’m discouraging my constituents from being part of the process and bringing ideas to me. Please feel free to send an email or call me. My email address is ken.rozenboom@legis.iowa.gov. Also please note that the Iowa Legislature’s website https://www.legis.iowa.gov/ is a great source of up-to-date legislative information.

Posted by on Jan 31 2025. Filed under Local News, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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