The superintendent of the Davenport schools is going to defy state law, and spend more than allowed on his students. That was the announcement last night by Doctor Art Tate.
Currently, Iowa school districts can only spend what's "authorized" by the state, plus any increase that's been approved in state aid. But Tate says the formula dates back to the 1970's, and has resulted in Davenport receiving 175 dollars less per student than districts at the high end of the formula. He's also not allowed to spend any of the district's reserve funds, now totalling 29 million dollars.
For Davenport, 175 dollars more per student would bring in 3.2 million dollars per year.
He's decided not to cut two million dollars from next year's budget, and add 1 million from reserves. So by the following year (2016-17), Davenport will spend more than authorized by the state.
Doctor Tate says defying state law follows more than 3 years of trying to convince the legislature to fix this inequity that affects 165 school districts across Iowa.