DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Legislature is moving to boost school funding in the next school year.
The House passed a bill Thursday night to increase funding by 2.4 percent.
The increase is higher than what the Senate is proposing, but slightly less than what Governor Kim Reynolds has asked for.
Democrats say the growth rate in the Republican backed bill is not high enough.
The House passed an amended version of a Senate bill, which will now go back to the Senate for consideration.
It's part of state supplemental aid on top of what's already set to be spend on school education, and includes additional money for school transportation.
The House version also removes a section that would provide additional COVID-19 aid for districts that followed the state's requirement for in-person classes.
That provision would exclude Des Moines Public Schools, which continued to offer only online classes in previous months.
But the House has a separate bill that would send the additional money to schools based on the number of in-person days of instruction. That version would also decrease funding for Des Moines schools.