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Iowa public schools press for 5% funding boost as lawmakers signal resistance
Republican legislators say public schools are asking ‘for the skies’; school leaders decry millions spent on funding non-public education
Jan. 12, 2026 5:30 am, Updated: Jan. 12, 2026 8:43 am
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Educators are again asking for an increase of 5 percent in funding for Iowa public schools, saying it’s crucial for keeping up with inflation, managing increased operating costs and making up for decades of underfunding amid statewide declining school enrollment.
Iowa legislative leaders are split on whether a 5 percent increase to the per pupil state aid is “reasonable” but do agree it’s unlikely.
If per pupil state aid is increased by less than 5 percent, more than half of Iowa schools might use the budget guarantee provision in the Iowa School Finance Formula, said Melissa Peterson, legislative and policy director for the Iowa State Education Association.
The provision ensures districts experiencing a shortfall in funding can make up the deficit through a budget adjustment, with approval by the school board, which is funded entirely through local property taxes.
“If we are looking at anything less than 5 percent, we will have more than 200 districts likely on the budget guarantee, which means they will not receive enough money to keep up with declining enrollment, particularly in some of our rural districts,” Peterson said.
Iowa lawmakers must set the growth rate for State Supplemental Aid in the first 30 days of each legislative session, which begins Monday.
State Supplemental Aid has increased on average 2 percent each year since 2012, educators say.
Legislative Preview Series
The Iowa Legislature begins its 2026 session today. The Gazette has been examining these state issues in the days leading up to the session:
Jan. 4: Property taxes
Jan. 5: State budget
Tuesday: Public safety
Wednesday: Eminent domain
Thursday: Agriculture/environment
Friday: Health care
Saturday: Abortion
Sunday: Higher education
Today: K-12 education
Declining enrollment puts pressure on property taxes
Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said “chronically underfunded” public schools are going to place more pressure on property taxes “at a time when our Republican colleagues say they want to do something to lower property taxes.”
A total of 157 Iowa school districts are on budget guarantee for the 2025-26 school year, an increase of 17 districts from the 2024-25 school year.
Weiner said schools are being “hit by substantial enrollment decreases,” and she can “almost guarantee” any increase to State Supplemental Aid will be too little.
“We need across the state to have adequate funding to come to grips with this because most of our kids attend public schools, and they deserve to have the quality education that we have come to expect here in Iowa,” she said.
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, said the budget guarantee is “part of the conversation” as lawmakers consider an increase to per pupil state aid.
Klimesh also said the state needs to reverse the trend of declining population in rural Iowa to increase enrollment and revitalize Iowa schools.
Enrollment has the greatest impact on a school district’s revenue, and Iowa public schools are facing increasing competition for students. There also are fewer students to enroll as birth rates across the state decline.
Most of Iowa’s 327 public school districts enroll fewer than 2,000 students.
Gov. Kim Reynolds declined to be interviewed for The Gazette’s legislative preview series.
Asking ‘for the skies’
House Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines said he doesn’t think per pupil state aid will be increased by 5 percent.
“Republicans have been starving public education for a number of years … I think we have some catching up to do,” he said.
House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said “everybody always asks for the skies.” Of a 5 percent increase to per pupil state aid, he said, “I don’t think is a very realistic one.”
“We’ve tried to keep education a priority. It’s at its highest funding levels. Obviously, we’re going to invest as much as we can. We recognize how important it is to Iowans,” Grassley said.
Lawmakers “will have to start talking more about” the amount of money districts spend on administrative costs, Grassley said.
“You’re seeing in all of our school districts as you’re looking at the amount of students that are coming in versus the amount of money we’re spending on administration in the state of Iowa — I don’t know if those numbers are keeping up with one another, and I mean that from the standpoint of I don’t know if they’re reflecting what we’re seeing for less students into our school districts,” Grassley said. “I think that’s going to also be a part of the conversation this year is the cost to deliver education is just as important in the amount of money going into education.”
Matt Degner, superintendent of the Iowa City Community School District, said painting school districts as mismanaging their funds is a “tired narrative.”
Degner said lawmakers should compare school achievement 15 years ago, when schools were receiving a larger percent increase, to State Supplemental Aid to today.
“When we talk about overall school performance in the state, it’s hard not to think there couldn’t possibly be a correlation with how we’re funding schools,” Degner said.
Iowa public schools’ “biggest expense” is staff, Degner said. Without adequate school funding, it’s difficult to adequately compensate employees.
The cost of Education Savings Accounts
Further impacting Iowa public school enrollment — and subsequent funding — is the expansion of school choice.
Charter schools — which receive per-pupil state aid from the state like public schools — are becoming more common across the state following a 2021 law that allows founding groups to apply directly to the Iowa State Board of Education for approval. Charter schools are tuition-free schools that are publicly funded, but independently run under an approved charter with the state.
Non-public school is more accessible to families in Iowa because this is the first year since Education Savings Accounts were created in 2023, that all families became eligible for them. Public schools do receive some categorical funding for every resident private school student attending a private school through an ESA.
Peterson, with the Iowa State Education Association, said the cost of Education Savings Accounts for the 2025-26 school year is estimated to be about $315 million. That’s about the equivalent of a 5 percent increase to per pupil state aid, she said.
“Some of our revenue issues are exacerbated by what is now the third year of the voucher program here in Iowa,” Peterson said.
“There’s obviously money that could have been given to public school districts that was instead set aside for a whole other system of schools,” Degner said. “Our mission is to serve every kid that shows up. I’m not sure that’s the mission of some of the other schools that are recipients of vouchers … I don’t see it as a solution that achieves better educational outcomes for kids.”
Public Schools Strong resolution
Across the state, school boards are adopting a resolution that demands Iowa legislators fully fund public schools.
The resolution, called Public School Strong, will be considered by the Cedar Rapids school board Monday.
Public School Strong is a project led by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement that aims to phase out Education Savings Accounts and give public schools a 5 percent increase in funding this year.
The Decorah, Keokuk, Albia, Belmond-Klemme and Bennett school boards have adopted the resolution.
Iowa schools ‘demand’ financial security
The Iowa State Education Association last month unveiled the “Educator Bill of Rights” — 10 “non-negotiable” requirements “that uphold the dignity and respect our public education professionals deserve and the essential conditions our students need to grow and thrive.”
Included in the list is professional respect, manageable workload, fair compensation, safe and healthy work environment and secure retirement.
During a virtual press call, ISEA president Joshua Brown said chronic underfunding “has led to overcrowded classrooms and depleted basic resources.”
“Iowa is in crisis,” Brown said. “Our Bill of Rights is about saving public education in Iowa, about demanding the foundation that is needed to stop the exodus and deliver quality education our heartland values deserve.”
Maya Marchel Hoff with The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.
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