One of the bills that attracts the most attention each year for school districts is the bill establishing the state percent of growth for schools. As my previous legislative update outlined, Republicans approved two school funding bills in committee. Those bills were HF 136 and SF 166, which moved through the legislative process quickly. To make a long story short, both chambers agreed on 1.11 state percent of growth and categorical growth using SF 166. The bill also changes the time in which growth rates need to be established to 30 days rather than 18 months from the submission of the Governor’s budget for the upcoming school year.  The Senate passed the bill on a party-line vote of 29-21 and the House passed the bill on an almost party-line vote (two Republicans voted with the Democrats) of 55-40. SF 166 has been signed by the Governor.

In my last update, I shared there had been a subcommittee meeting held on SSB 1001, Statewide Assessment, which would  leave Iowa Assessments (or the successor assessment they develop) in place permanently and would strike the rules the State Board of Education (State Board) adopted that put the Smarter Balanced Assessment in place. This bill was brought to and passed the Senate Education Committee with an amendment. The bill, which includes the amendment is SF 240 and requires the Department of Education (Department) to issue a Request for Proposal by April 30, 2017, for the selection of a statewide assessment to be administered in the 2018-2019 school year. The assessment will align with Iowa Core academic standards and measure English language arts, including reading and writing, mathematics, and science. Potential vendors and assessment providers can collaborate to meet the requirements. The bill will most likely be debated on the Senate floor this week.

A subcommittee was held on the Governor’s Computer Science bill, SSB 1047, which received a great deal of positive feedback. This bill helps to ensure that all Iowa students have access to high-quality computer science instruction. This is accomplished by requiring the State Board to adopt computer science education standards and rules establishing high-quality standards for computer science education taught by elementary, middle, and high schools. It also requires the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners to establish computer science instructor endorsements. In addition, the bill establishes a computer science professional development incentive fund in the state treasury. Finally, it directs the Department to convene a diverse computer science work group, who will make recommendations in several areas. They will be responsible for determining how one or more high-quality computer science courses can satisfy high school graduation requirements for mathematics or science, or how it can be integrated into a career and technical education pathway and explore multiple settings for the delivery of high-quality high school computer science courses. The recommendations are due to the General Assembly in November 2017.  

One of the Department’s bills, HSB 97, has been assigned to a subcommittee. The bill originated from the recommendations of the High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) Task Force by providing the State Board the authority to adopt additional pathways to an equivalency diploma.  For decades, passage of an assessment (first GED and now HiSET) has been the only pathway to obtaining an equivalency diploma.  The task force recommended consideration of other options of equivalent rigor including credit-based measures which appear to better serve many adult students. Please see the HSED Task Force 2016 Report and Recommendations

We are still waiting on two of the Department’s bills to be assigned to a subcommittee. One is the Science Assessment bill, which originated from the recommendations of the Iowa Assessment Task Force. They recommended that Iowa only administer science assessments to grades 5, 8, and 10. This matches Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements, which states that science assessments are required to be administered at least once in each grade span, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. We believe this should have a positive fiscal impact for school districts as there will be a reduction in the number of assessments given statewide. The other bill is the Department of Education Technical Clarifications, which is designed to clean up sections of Iowa Code. We anticipate the items outlined should pass without issue. 

There are currently a number of education bills and continue to be several introduced daily. To keep yourself up to date, please feel free to utilize the Department’s Legislative page, which includes bill tracking as well as current and previous legislative reports. 

Today the House Labor Committee will hold a public hearing on HF 291, Public Collective Bargaining, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Capitol. SF 213 is a companion bill. 

When Monday arrives, I generally have an idea of what my week will bring. However, since the legislative session has begun, when Friday arrives, it shows little resemblance to what I had envisioned just a few days earlier. Today is Monday, so I have to wonder what Friday will bring!