Local superintendents hopeful for K-12 budget compromise

Despite last year’s contentious fight over K-12 education funding, administrators at CAL and Hampton-Dumont are hopeful Iowa lawmakers will compromise on 2016’s bill relatively soon.
     “I’m actually optimistic,” said H-D Superintendent Todd Lettow. “It seems like there’s traction on both sides to get it done within 30 days.”
     In 2015, the Legislature was forced into overtime when the House and Senate failed to pass a K-12 spending bill before May. Eventually, lawmakers agreed to increase funding by 1.25 percent with an additional $55.7 million in one-time money, but Gov. Terry Branstad vetoed the extra amount in July.
     This year, Branstad proposed a 2.45 percent increase in funding for public schools. The Republican-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate remain split on the issue again, with the House passing a 2 percent education bill last week and Democrats advocating for a 4 percent increase. As of Monday morning, the Senate had yet to act on the House’s bill.
     Read the full article in the Feb. 3 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.