Governor Terry Branstad has been looking at allowable growth in schools, as the Senate approved a 4% allowable growth for the 2013-2014 school year. Mid-Prairie and Keota Superintendent Mark Schneider explains that allowable growth is based on cost per student. The Governor currently has to propose the allowable growth two years in advance, which gives administrators an idea of their future budget. Governor Branstad is now looking at setting the allowable growth only a few months before school begins, or even getting rid of the system all together.
Schneider says that this would make it difficult for administrators to set budgets and negotiate with teachers, because they don’t know how much funding they will be getting. Governor Branstad hopes that this would allow lawmakers to focus resources towards getting better results from students.
This years allowable growth rate is 0% and next years is set at 2%. KCII will continue to monitor this issue and bring you more information as it becomes official.