 The final funnel has blown through and there are many education bills still standing. So far the session has focused on establishing policy. Now, the real challenge will be to determine how to pay for existing programs as well as any new requirements that may have made it through the funnel for fiscal year 2018. This task will be complicated by the fact that the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) agreed to lower the projected state tax revenue for fiscal year 2018 by $191 million, which comes after the Legislature cut more than $117 million from the current budget.
Typically, there will be a Joint Appropriations Subcommittee, meaning House and Senate members meet together, who will work on the education budget and report back to their respective Appropriations Committee. Once the Education Appropriations bill is shared, we will have a better understanding of the financial landscape for fiscal year 2018.
Below are bills that survived the final funnel. They did so by passing out of their respective chamber and passing out of a committee in the opposite chamber. There were a couple of bills that survived due to being sent to Appropriations, which makes bills funnel proof.
SF 240 – Statewide Assessment – requires the Department of Education (Department) to issue a Request for Proposal by July 1 to choose the statewide assessment. The assessment that is chosen will be administered in the 2018-2019 school year. The bill passed the Senate and passed in the House Education Committee. It will most likely be debated on the House floor next week.
SF 475 passed out of the Senate and passed the House Education Committee and is ready to be placed on the House Debate Calendar. The bill has seven divisions. I outlined each division and provided a brief explanation in my 3/27/17 legislative update. There is a change from my previous update, which is the Dental and Vision Authorizations and Requirements. An amendment changed the bill to state the Department and Department of Public Health will convene a student health working group. The group will develop, and submit to the General Assembly by December 2017, a single method for enforcement of the current student health requirements and data collection. The bill also establishes the membership of the work group.
There were two flexibility bills, HF 565 and 564, which work hand in hand to provide school districts with more flexibility. Both bills passed out of the House and passed out of the Senate Education Committee and are ready to be placed on the Senate Debate Calendar.
HF 565 creates a Flexibility Fund Account and allows districts to transfer all or a portion of unobligated ending fund balances for programs, including Professional Development, Home School Assistance, Statewide Voluntary Preschool, and Gifted and Talented into the new Flexibility Fund Account. Expenditures from the Flexibility Fund Account are required to be approved by resolution of the school board following a public hearing. The change would take effect beginning with the 2018-2019 school year.
HF 564 provides flexibility in the uses of funds for Professional Development, At-Risk and Dropout Prevention Programs, Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) and Preschool Foundation Aid Funding.
HF 563 - Emergency Medical Procedures and Training Requirements for School Coaches - outlines CPR and defibrillator requirements for anyone who possesses a valid teaching license with a coaching endorsement. It also outlines requirements and procedures regarding concussions and brain injuries. I outlined the specifics in my 3/7/17 legislative update. The bill passed in the House and passed out of the Senate Education Committee and is ready to be placed on the Senate Debate Calendar.
SF 274 - Computer Science – ensures that all Iowa students have access to high-quality computer science instruction, without a mandate to school districts. It also requires the Department to convene a diverse computer science work group, who will make recommendations in several areas by November 2017. This bill passed out of the Senate and is now in House Appropriations.
HF 508 - Shared Operational Functions for Purposes of Supplemental Weighting - strikes the provisions limiting the number of years for which the supplemental weighting may be claimed. It also eliminates the provisions establishing the period of school budget years during which the supplementary weighting may be claimed. The bill passed out of the House Education Committee and was sent to House Appropriations.
HF 473 – High School Equivalency Options - amended and passed on the House floor. It was sent to the Senate where it was attached to SF 350. This means HF 473 is similar to SF 350 and the Senate can determine if they want to file a conforming amendment so the bills match, and then substitute SF 350 for HF 473. Another option is to move their bill forward in its current form or with their amendments. The bills allow a student to earn a high school equivalency diploma by passing and showing competence in the following core standard areas (reading, language, literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies). Demonstrating competence includes the existing HiSET assessment, as well as models like the Adult Diploma, offered by some of Iowa's community colleges. Community college counselors review high school transcripts for existing passing credits and award transfer credit in those areas where core competencies are met. This allows equivalency students to focus on only the core competencies they are deficient in through additional postsecondary classwork. Both bills require the State Board of Education to adopt rules establishing standards for content and measures by which competence would be demonstrated.
HF 573 provides limited home rule for school districts by allowing districts to liberally construe Iowa Code and make policy decisions that are not specifically outlined in code. School districts have been functioning under Dillon's Rule, which states a school district can only do what is expressly authorized in Iowa Code. The bill passed the House and passed out of the Senate Education Committee and is ready to be placed on the Senate Debate Calendar.
SF 455 was designed to address inequities in district cost per pupil and transportation cost over a 10-year time span. Technically the bill is in Appropriations, which makes it funnel proof. However, with the prediction of a tight budget year, it may remain in Appropriations and not move forward this year. The Legislative Services Agency (LSA) identified that the fiscal impact would be a little over $14 million for fiscal year 2018 and over a span of 10 years, the total cost would be over $203 million.
There are a few education bills that were casualties of the final funnel. Those bills are as follows:
HF 353 - School Security Plans - requires school boards to develop security plans for individual school buildings by December 31, 2018. It charges the Department to establish a school security task force and for the task force to make recommendations on school security by December 2017. The bill passed the House Education Committee, but failed to advance to the House floor for debate.
HF 562 - Driver Education by Peace Officers - permits a person who is a peace officer or a retired peace officer to be qualified as a classroom driver education instructor if the person also meets the Board of Educational Examiner’s (BOEE) requirements for a classroom driver education instructor. HF 562, successor of HF 419, passed the House and was sent to the Senate, where it failed to pass out of a subcommittee.
SF 427 - Supplementary Weighting for English Language Learners (ELL) - extends the number of years a student can be identified as an ELL from five to seven years. If a student is deemed to be proficient, they would no longer qualify for ELL weighting. The bill passed the Senate Education Committee, but failed to advance to the Senate floor for debate.
As I stated earlier, in the following weeks, many difficult decisions will need to be made regarding the overall budget and how state agencies and programs will be affected. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done if this legislative session is to end on April 18, which is the 100th day of session. Since many of the bills that I outlined above will be debated on the House and Senate floors, I have included the link again to the Live Chamber Video for both chamber floors.
| 
