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Iowa lawmakers spar over education funding

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May 20th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As lawmakers struggle to resolve the state budget, a new conflict has sprung up about how much new money to give schools in the 2016-2017 school year. The Appropriations Committee in the Republican-led House on Wednesday approved a plan that would provide about $125 million in new dollars in that year, with some of the money going to a teacher leadership program. But Democrats say the funding level is inadequate.

Republicans had previously supported spending more money, but Rep. Chuck Soderberg, a Republican from Le Mars, said they didn’t want to “overcommit and under-deliver.” The Republican-controlled House and Democratic-majority Senate are still at odds over how much new money to provide in the upcoming school year, with Democrats wanting to offer more than Republicans.