The Iowa House and Senate came to a compromise on increasing state aid to K-12 schools last week, though it comes as a concern to districts that have seen decreased enrollment in the last year.

The Iowa House passed an amended Senate bill last Thursday that would increase state aid by 2.4 percent. That’s about the same as last year’s 2.3 percent increase, but because of an enrollment drop of about 6,000 students across the state, the dollar increase would be about $50 million smaller. Washington Community Schools Superintendent Willie Stone voiced his concern at this proposal during a visit from Governor Kim Reynolds Thursday, stating that he can’t make any staff changes that would accommodate a couple hundred thousand dollar decrease, and that the district would have to increase property taxes to make up for it. District 42 State Senator Jeff Reichman comments on the legislation, “Raising property taxes is always a concern, I own property down here in Lee County and the taxes are going up so. [I] haven’t seen the impact of that and I hope it’s not a big impact or hope it doesn’t go through at all or not needed.”

Groups that have filed against this bill include the Iowa State Education Association, Rural School Advocates of Iowa, and the Iowa Association of School Boards. You can hear more from Sen. Reichman during today’s Halcyon House Washington Page on air and at kciiradio.com.