Thursday, February 22, 2007
Governor Culver Signs Allowable Growth Bill
Bill increases amount state spends per student in state aid by $213
DES MOINES — Today Governor Chet Culver signed SF 109 into law. He signed the bill at Capitol View Elementary School on Des Moines’ east side. More than 40 students, teachers and administrators looked on as he signed the bill and explained what it means to them. “Signing this bill means there’s money to pay your teachers, librarians and custodians. This money is used to buy computers and all the things that help you get a good public education,” said Governor Culver.
This bill sets the fiscal year 2009 school foundation allowable growth rate at 4%. This increases the school district cost per pupil by $213 to $5,546. This amount matched the Governor’s budget recommendation of 4% allowable growth rate. This is the annual increase in state aid per student to public schools, and adds $107.8 million to the total state aid for schools. State aid will total approximately $2.3 billion.
Governor Culver said, “I’m thrilled that both Democrat and Republican legislators saw the value in increasing the allowable growth rate by 4 percent. Making sure that all kids have access to quality education remains one of my top priorities.”