Sine die! Legislators worked through the night and the 2017 legislative session concluded early Saturday morning. All the bills that passed out of both the House and Senate will now be on their way to the Governor. The Governor has three options: sign the bill, veto the bill (or item veto an appropriations bill), or take no action. Bills received by the Governor during the last three calendar days of session must be signed or vetoed within 30 calendar days. If the Governor does not take action within 30 calendar days, the bill fails to become law. If the bill is an appropriations bill, the Governor can line-item veto, which is striking a specific item. Some bills will be effective upon enactment (when signed by the Governor) and others may be effective upon a specified date.

Earlier in the week, SF 511 was substituted for HF 642, which is the Education Appropriations bill. HF 642 passed in both chambers and is on its way to the Governor.

As noted in my previous update, there were programs where funding was eliminated. Two such programs were the Area Education Agency (AEA) Support System, which provides professional development and assistance for the implementation of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) system, and the AEA Distribution, which was used in a variety of ways to support districts' efforts to implement the Iowa Core.

In addition, funding specific to mentoring and induction was eliminated and districts are no longer required to provide a mentoring and induction program for all beginning teachers. The bill allows districts to use professional development funds to fund a beginning teacher mentoring and induction program. Districts may also use TLC funds to support new teacher mentoring. Although the funding was eliminated, a requirement remained from the Board of Educational Examiners that required teachers who hold an initial license to complete the mentoring and induction program, in order to move to their standard license. An amendment was added to the bill that modified how beginning teachers can meet that requirement. There are two ways in which the requirement can be met; they can meet the requirement through the existing mentoring and induction program or through the districts’ Teacher and Leadership Compensation plans. The Department will be providing additional information on this change in the coming weeks. 

Also noted in my previous update, there was policy language included in the Education Appropriations bill that eliminated the third grade retention requirement as well as the summer intensive reading requirement. With that said, the Department believes the ability to read is critical to a student’s success in school and in life. Our focus will continue to be identifying struggling readers early on and getting them back on track. This will continue to be a priority for the Department as well as school districts.

The funding for Administrator Mentoring/Coaching Support, which has supported principals in the implementation of TLC, was also eliminated. Schools and principals may still be able to participate in this program, but there will now be a fee.

The Governor signed into law HF 473, High School Equivalency Diplomas, during a signing ceremony earlier this week. The bill allows 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. The bill requires the State Board to adopt rules establishing standards for content and measures by which competence would be demonstrated. 

Below are bills that are on their way to the Governor.

SF 240 – Statewide Assessment – Requires the Department to issue a Request for Proposal by July 1, 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. It also requires that students enrolled in grades 5, 8, and 10 be administered the science assessment, which was a recommendation of the Iowa Assessment Task Force. Potential vendors and assessment providers can collaborate to meet the requirements.

SF 274 - Computer Science –Ensures that all Iowa students have access to high-quality computer science instruction, without a mandate to school districts. This is accomplished by requiring the State Board of Education (State Board) to adopt computer science education standards and rules establishing high-quality standards for computer science education, and also requires the Board of Educational Examiners (BoEE) to establish a computer science teacher endorsement. The bill includes the computer science professional development incentive fund. The Department of Education (Department) will convene a diverse computer science work group, who will make recommendations in several areas by November 2017.

There were two flexibility bills, HF 564 and HF 565, which work hand in hand.

HF 564 - Provides flexibility in the uses of funds for: Professional Development, At-Risk and Dropout Prevention Programs, and Preschool Foundation Aid Funding. 

HF 565 - Creates a Flexibility Fund Account and allows districts to transfer all or a portion of unobligated ending fund balances for programs such as 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 573 - Home Rule - 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 Iowa 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.

SF 516 - Standing Appropriations - Addresses state and local finances by making appropriations, providing for legal and regulatory matters, concerning taxation, and other miscellaneous items. While there were no reductions identified in this bill that directly affected the Department, the AEAs were impacted with a state funding reduction of $15 million.

Since we are in the first year of the 87th General Assembly, bills that did not make it through this year can simply resume from where they left off this session. Some of those bills may be SF 427, English Language Learners funding; SF 455, School District Funding Inequities; HF 230, Extension on the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) Fund; HF 563, High School Collision Sport/Collision; HF 648, Career and Technical Education Modifications; and HF 633, Supplemental Weighting for Operational Sharing.

With the conclusion of the legislative session, the Department will closely analyze the education bills and determine next steps. Each year the Department sends a letter to school districts outlining the bills that passed this legislative session and how those bills will impact districts. In the coming weeks, we will be finalizing that letter. If you would like to see the bills that have passed this legislative session, I have attached the link to the Enrolled Bills webpage. The page shows the date the bill passed, when the Governor signed the bill and the effective date.  

In the meantime, if you have questions regarding education bills please let me know.