'Skip the Drama' Over School Funding, Iowa State Senator Says (Video)

State Sen. Liz Mathis, a Democrat from Robins, gave an impassioned speech on the Iowa Senate chamber floor last week urging state leaders to set funding guidelines for Iowa schools so they can plan.

"Schools need to sign contracts with teachers, they need to plan course offerings and they need to make some big and basic decisions," Mathis said. "Should they guess what sort of funding they have to work with? Should we just let them guess? Is guesswork the operational approach we are suggesting that Iowa school systems adopt?"

Mathis called out Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, and "certain members of the Iowa House," which is also led by Republicans, for putting off addressing school funding.

She said it forces schools to plan for no new money, which could lead to cuts, layoffs and suffering student achievement.

"Let's skip the drama," she said. "Let's instead put the quality of Iowa local schools first."