Capitol Update - February 23, 2023

UEN Legislative Update
Feb. 23, 2023

Download the Printable 02/23/2023 Report

 

This UEN Weekly Report from the 2023 Legislative Session includes:

• SF 181 Valuation Correction Signed by the Governor
• Bills to Address Teacher Shortage Advance
• SSB 1145 Governor’s Transparency and Parents’ Rights Bill Senate Subcommittee
• More PK Funding Bills
• SSB 1111 Governor’s Flexibility Bill Approved by Senate Education Committee
• Subcommittee, Committee and Floor Action on Other Bills
• Advocacy Action: Advocating for Preschool and Common-Sense Transparency
• Links to Advocacy Resources
• Members of Important Education Committees

SF 181 Valuation Error Fix: The bill to correct the property valuation error was signed by the Governor. The bill extends the budget certification deadline to April 30 and allows for local governments to recertify if they previously certified their budget before these changes are implemented. UEN is monitoring this bill.

 

Several Bills Addressing Teacher Shortage Discussed

HF 256 Educator License Minimum Age: the bill allows the Board of Educational Examiners to issue a teaching license or substitute license to an individual at least 18 years of age, as long as the individual has completed all necessary degrees and certification requirements for the license or certificate. It also applies to paraeducators. The House passed the bill 95:0, sending it to the Senate Education Committee. UEN is registered in support.

HF 323 Paid Student Teaching: the bill allows but does not require school districts to pay student teachers a prorated amount not to exceed the lowest salary of a paid teacher in the school district. The bill does not provide any funding flexibility or appropriation to school districts in order to pay student teachers. The bill was approved by the House 69-26, sending it to the Senate Education Committee. UEN is registered as undecided, due to the lack of funding or flexibility for districts to cover the cost.

SF 392 (formerly SSB 1049) Teacher Recruitment Omnibus: this bill sets standards for teacher intern licenses: 1) applicant must graduate college, 2) meet requirements for their endorsement area, 3) have an employment offer, 4) complete required training, 5) work under the supervision of an assigned school leader and 6) complete 15 additional hours of coursework. The bill requires recipients of the Teach Iowa Loan Forgiveness program to be apportioned at 50% of applicants in school districts below 1,200 enrollment and 50% in districts with more than 1,200 students enrolled. The bill allows use of the management fund for a recruitment plan or early retirement benefits, but prohibits expenditures on both in the same fiscal year. There is a public hearing required. The bill was amended and received unanimous approval in the Senate Education Committee. The bill is now on the Senate Calendar. UEN is registered in support.

HF 221 Out of State Licensing: this bill would allow individuals from other states or countries to get an Iowa teaching license if the individual has any of the following: 1) a full license from another state or country that is not temporary or an emergency license, 2) verification from an institution in another state that the applicant completed all program and licensure requirements with the exception of any assessments required by the state and 3) transcripts indication that the applicant completed a teacher preparation program located in another country. The subcommittee agreed to move the bill forward to the full House Education Committee with amendment, 3:0. UEN is registered in support.

 

Governor’s Book Removal, Transparency, Obscenity and Parents’ Rights Bill

SSB 1145 Governor’s Book Removal, Transparency and Parents’ Rights Bill: The subcommittee of Sens. Rozenboom, Celsi, Evans, Quirmbach, and Sinclair met on Thursday. The House version is still not yet introduced. HF 5, currently in the House Education Committee, deals with Transparency and Library Books. HF 8 approved by House Education and SF 159 address Gender Identity and Obscene Content. See the Feb. 16 Weekly Report for a complete bill description. UEN provided testimony on the following:

• Book Removals: Secs. 1, 15 and 16 language is too broad. We believe it is intended to apply to books removed subsequent to a reconsideration request, but would apply to any board decision to remove books from classrooms or libraries. A new curriculum adoption is a decision to remove one series of materials and replace with another. If the list or books reconsidered and removed from any district is posted on the DE’s website and all districts have their library materials in an electronic catalogue or available to parents, then parent have enough information to request their student receive alternative books. Allowing one school board to create policies that impact the other 325 is akin to “taxation without representation” and the opposite of both democracy and local control principles.
• INS Civics Test: Sec. 3 is too prescriptive. First, we oppose a high-stakes test for graduation. We are not opposed to students taking the test and are even OK with reporting the test scores to DE. However, in some instances, schools may prefer to offer the test in 8^th or 9^th grade social studies. When a student comes to Iowa having already received their US Government credit, they shouldn’t have to repeat it.
• Parent Permission for Surveys: the Iowa Youth Survey should be excluded since it is anonymous and no staff have information about any one student upon which to offer programing. The survey has important longitudinal data about student health and habits regarding tobacco use, alcohol, and feeling safe at school. That data is used for both state and federal health, including where to expend funds and climate policy-making.
• Transparency of Materials: requiring a “sortable list” of materials (all classroom materials) will require new software, time to establish requirements, find vendors, train staff and upload materials. The fiscal note to last year’s compromise bill, which wasn’t this extensive, estimated $60,000 for software modules and $27 million statewide for training or substitute time. By our analysis, that is an average of $100,000 per district. There were 140 school districts which a funding increase below that amount with the 3% SSA already enacted. HF 5 Provisions for Parent access through a curriculum management system is more efficient and better recognize the fluidity of instruction.

The subcommittee vote to move the bill forward to the full Education Committee with amendment on a 3:2 party line vote. UEN is opposed to SSB 1145.

 

Preschool Funding Bills

Last week, we mentioned PK Funding Bill HF 297: this bill Sponsored by Rep. Ingels maintains the 0.5 weighting for students in preschool from families with incomes above 200% of the federal poverty level and counts students from families below that income level as 1.0 students for purposes of preschool funding. UEN is registered in support. The bill is assigned to the House Education Committee.

This week, two more bills were introduced:

HF 381 PK Funding by Rep. Sorensen was introduced. This bill increases the PK weighting from 0.5 to 1.0 for all preschool students. This bill is also assigned to the House Education Committee and UEN is registered in support.

SF 310 PK Funding, by Sen. Trone-Garriott and other Democrat Senators, also sets a 1.0 weighting for all preschool students. This bill is in the Senate Education Committee and assigned a subcommittee of Senators Rozenboom, Giddens and Kraayenbrink. UEN is registered in support.

 

Floor Action this Week

Nothing in addition to the teacher shortage proposals above. However, HF 348 is on the House Calendar with a new bill number(formerly HF 8). Gender Instruction Prohibitions: Prohibits schools and charter schools from including any instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation in K-6 education. UEN is opposed.

 

Committee Action This Week

Senate Ways and Means Committee:

Approved SF 356 Property Taxes (formerly SSB 1024) Property Taxes. Most of the bill focuses on city and county property taxes. Division III phases out the public education and recreation levy (PERL). 29 districts currently use this small 13.5 cent levy for public education, recreation and community education programs. UEN is opposed. The Committee approved the bill on party lines, moving it to the Senate Calendar. NOTE: HF 1 Property Tax Reduction and SSB 1125 Sales Tax Matters also proposed reductions to property tax rates or valuations or increased steps for bonding or passing levies. UEN is registered against both of these other versions. These ideas are all in the works but a long way from legislative consensus.

 

House Education Committee:

HF 10 School Abuse: requires mandatory reporters to report abuse of children over the age of 12. Requires the DE to develop for reporting on and investigating a school employee with an authorization, license or certification who may have committed certain felonies or acts. Establishes immunity for the school board or school authorities for discussing such incidents. Requires the BOEE to assess civil penalties against administrators for failures to follow the established process or for concealing an incident. Includes additional grounds for the BOEE to disqualify applicants or to revoke licenses. Requires the BOEE to notify schools about investigations and to investigate administrators. Requires schools to contact the BOEE about potential hires to determine if the person has been the subject of a complaint or investigation. Subcommittee of Reps. Boden, Gustoff, and Staed agreed to move the bill forward to the full Committee with an amendment to the process of schools contacting BOEE to determine if a prospective employee has a pending investigation to, instead, require school districts to verify the investigation status on a spreadsheet which will include those cases where sufficient evidence is found to warrant staff recommendation to BOEE to consider licensure. During the Committee debate, the bill was amended to instead require school districts to check prospective employees against a BOEE tracking list of pending investigations with probable cause established (UEN supports this action) and also to change the make-up of the BOEE to have 5 educators and 6 parent (noneducator) members (UEN opposes this action). Although formerly undecided, UEN opposes this bill with the change in the BOEE now attached.

HF 17 Inter-District Transfers: this bill requires a school board to allow a parent to request their child attend a different attendance center in the district if the board reasonably believes the student was a victim of assault or abuse by an employee, contractor or another student in the district. Defines a process of notice and response. Specifies that board can adopt a policy defining insufficient classroom space allowing the school superintendent to deny the request. Requires the request to be for a period of at least one year. The bill was amended in the House Education Committee to only apply to founded bullying and harassment by another student. UEN was registered undecided on the bill, but with the amendment, changed the registration to opposed. The bill is now on the House Calendar.

HF 283 Home School Requirements: removes the requirement that students in competent private instruction (home school with support from the school district) be vaccinated. The bill also removes limitations to independent private instruction (home school without any connection to the school district). The bill strikes a provision of Iowa Code limiting IPI to no more than 4 unrelated children and also strikes a provision prohibiting charging tuition or fees. The bill does specify that IPI is not an accredited public school, which clearly removes the possibility for students in an IPI environment from ESA eligibility. The bill was approved 14:8 on party lines and moves to the House Calendar. UEN is registered opposed.

HSB 169 Operational Sharing: strikes the future reduction in weighting for operational sharing and reinstates prior weightings until the program ends (now in 2035 per HF 68). The bill was amended to increase the cap to 25 students, to raise the weighting of a special education director from 3 to 5 students and to add an information technology specialist position to the list of possible operational shared positions. The bill was approved unanimously. UEN is undecided.

 

Senate Education Committee:

SF 38 Achievement Gap Working Group: this bill requires the DE to convene a working group to study any disparities in academic performance between racial and ethnic groups K-12. The bill as amended requires that, if the working group finds significant disparities in Iowa, their recommendations should focus on suggestions of activities to reduce disparities. The bill specifies the membership of the group and other parameters. The bill was amended and approved unanimously by the Senate Education Committee, moving it to the Senate Calendar. UEN is registered in support.

HF 370 and SSB 1111 IASB’s Education Omnibus: these bills were approved in both the House and Senate Education Committees this week and include 25 sections. In short, the bills address flexibility and deregulation, public notice, better utilizing technology, updates to outdated and duplicative language, corrected and updated school board duties and responsibilities, borrowing authority and SAVE code clean-up, and establishes a work group for health-related trainings. The bill in the Senate Committee was amended to allow members of AEA boards of directors to substitute teach. The bills were both approved in their respective committees and moved to the House and Senate Calendars. See the Feb. 2 Weekly Report for item analysis of the bill. UEN is registered in support.

SSB 1076 Governor’s School Flexibility Omnibus: this bill was approved by the Senate Education Committee this week. In short, the bill has seven divisions: 1) removal of CSIP, 2) librarians can be either a certified teacher librarian or former public librarian and no master’s degree will be required, 3) allows up to 5 days/30 hours of internet instruction, 4) flexibility within community college agreements counted toward offer and teach requirements, 5) allows teachers and community college instructors to teach two or more sequential units simultaneously, 6) eases education standards: eliminate technological literacy, HIV/AIDs references, world language is reduced to two units, fine arts is reduced to two units, excuses students from PE if in a work-based or outside learning and activities, specifies that health education requirements shall be taught and eliminates CPR and ½ unit financial literacy for graduation, 7) extends shared operational sharing Amendment: Strikes division 7 since that was included HF 68 school choice signed by the Governor. The amendment was approved unanimously and the bill was approved on party lines with Sen. Taylor joining the Democrats. A companion bill, HF 327 is on the House Calendar.

 

House Local Government Committee:

HF 409 (formerly HF 196) Comments at School Board Meetings: requires school board meetings to include at least 30 minutes for public comment, including both regular and special board meetings. Allows time limits to be imposed if necessary due to the number of persons signed up to speak. The bill was approved by the Committee 12-7 and moves to the House Calendar. UEN is registered opposed.

 

Subcommittee Action This Week

House Education Subcommittee met on HF 233 ESA Enrollment Intention and Voluntary Second Enrollment Count Date. The bill first requires the DE to create a form that parents who intend to apply for an education savings account and attend private school can communicate that intention. The DE is then required to notify public schools of the number of applicants from their district. The second part of the bill creates a voluntary March 1 second enrollment count date. This would allow districts with growing enrollment or students identified as needing special education services after the count date to request to include them in the upcoming budget for state funding purposes. There were concerns expressed during the subcommittee that the DE would not be able to turn around certification of the second enrollment date in time to inform school budgeting. The subcommittee moved the bill forward to the Senate Education Committee on a vote of 2:0. UEN is registered as undecided.

HF 73 School Gun Safety Programs: a subcommittee met to discuss and amend HF 73, which requires age-appropriate school gun safety programs in schools. This bill is sponsored by Reps. Wheeler and Abdul-Samad and moved forward with suggested amendment by the subcommittee 2:1. UEN is registered as undecided.

HF 294 Minimum State School Aid: specifies that the Iowa Code requirement of $300 per pupil minimum state school aid applies to regular program district cost and does not include state funding for categoricals (PD, TSS, TLC, EICS). During the subcommittee, folks surmised that this only applied to the Okoboji Community School District, as their uniform levy provides nearly all of the funding per pupil required by the formula. This bill would lower property taxes by the amount necessary to guarantee at least $300 per pupil minimum state regular program funding. The subcommittee moved the bill forward to the full Committee, 2:0. Identical SF 276 also held a subcommittee with similar conversation and action, moving it forward to the full Committee on a vote of 2:0. UEN is registered as undecided.

HF 390 Minimum Physical Activity: requires students in K-5 to have at least 30 uninterrupted minutes of physical activity in addition to required physical education. The Subcommittee agreed to amend the bill, to specify that PE would count toward the 30 minutes, to remove the word “uninterrupted” and to apply the requirement to 6^th grade. Although UEN leaders understand the importance of unstructured time, playtime, recess and physical activity for child development, we disagree that the state should mandate this requirement. We believe that control over time and content is local and flexibility is required to meet all of the various mandates on school time. We do support the two amendments to include PE in the 30 minutes and remove the “uninterrupted” qualifier. The subcommittee vote 3:0 to move the bill forward with amendment. UEN is opposed to the bill in its original form.

SF 341 Margarine Prohibited: prohibits the use of margarine in school lunches. Allows the use of butter, coconut oil, avocado oil and olive oil as alternatives. Federal government establishes nutrition guidelines. The alternatives are more expensive than margarine. This would be an additional cost to parents and for those who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, the district could not pass on the cost of the meal. UEN is registered opposed.

 SF 269 Work-based Learning & Employer Liability: this bill protects employers who partner with school districts to offer work-based learning opportunities, internships and apprenticeships. The bill protects the employer from liability due to a negligent act of the student or negligence of the employer. However, the bill doesn’t not provide liability protection from actions on the part of the student or the employer that are gross negligence or willful misconduct. The bill provides some flexibility for meeting CTE offer and teach requirements for work-based learning opportunities, internships and apprenticeships. The bill includes a grant program allowing districts to pay additional salaries/stipends to CTE teachers. UEN is registered undecided on the bill.

 

Bills introduced

HF 379 Mandated Seizure Disorder Training: Requires public and private schools to have at least one employee trained in administering seizure medications by the 2024-25 school year. Deems that a school nurse meets these requirements. Requires school personnel to be trained to recognize seizures, to be trained in first aid and to have biennial training. Sets standards for training and allows the schools and DOE to establish higher standards. Requires schools to have written permission from a parent in advance before administering seizure drugs and to collaborate with a parent on a seizure action plan. Requires schools to maintain seizure action plans and to distribute information on the plans to school personnel. Requires the DE to develop information on seizure action plans for the guidance of schools. Includes immunity provisions for good faith actions. See SF 177. UEN is opposed to this bill.

HF 380 Dropout Prevention Equity: modifies the maximum modified supplemental amount calculation for fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2023 and before FY 2028 by increasing the cap of 2.5% of the school district’s total regular program district cost by 0.5% each fiscal year until reaching 5.0% for FY 2028. Going forward, the maximum ratio percentage will be 5.0% for all school districts. This bill is identical to SF 246 which is assigned to a subcommittee in the Ways and Means Committee. SF 246 Fiscal Note estimates no impact to the state budget but also estimates a gradual impact on property taxes as shown in this table. UEN is registered in support, but continues to advocate for a poverty factor in the Iowa School Foundation Formula to help school districts with concentrated poverty close achievement gaps and meet the needs of all students. The bill is in the House Education Committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HF 285 Autism Programming Excused Absences: this bill requires school districts to excuse student absences while the student is engaged in autism programming from a private provider. The Iowa Code requires that local school districts define excused absences. If parents engage with the district and AEAs on an IEP, these services would be considered school time. UEN is opposed to the bill.

SSB 1168 Carrying Guns: this bill would allow schools to authorize employees to carry guns and ammo in a school vehicle. Authorizes a person with a valid carry permit while making a delivery or picking up or dropping off a person, to have a concealed gun but requires the gun to remain in the vehicle and that the vehicle remain in specific parts of the school parking areas. Allows a retired peace officer to carry a gun on school grounds if the peace officer retired in good standing and has maintained certification and standards for handling guns. UEN is registered opposed. The bill is in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

 

Advocacy Actions This Week

• Focus on Preschool Weighting this weekend and into next week. We are hearing some enthusiasm to move Rep. Ingels’ bill, PK Funding Bill HF 297 in the House Education Committee next week. Members of that Committee and their email addresses are at the bottom of this report. The bill maintains the 0.5 weighting for students in preschool from families with incomes above 200% of the federal poverty level and counts students from families below that income level as 1.0 students for purposes of preschool funding. UEN is registered in support. Please contact House Education Committee members and ask for their support to move the discussion forward. Share the UEN Issue Brief: Priority of Preschool. This weighting benefits preschool students in both public and private community partner schools. It provides a good start to learning which shows students are more prepared and do better in school. It frees up childcare slots and helps parents get into the workforce. Quality PK saves taxpayers by lowering the incidence of special education experience and preparing students for economic success as adults.

• Advocate with your Reps and Sens about finding a balance in transparency and parents’ rights. Key messages:
  • Schools want to (and need to) involve parents.
  • Changes in processes will require investment, such as software, staff time to upload information, training for staff, instructions (and support) for parents.
  • Prospective parent permission is costly and may leave some students out. Requiring notice and then allowing parents to request an alternative if they want their child to experience something differently is implementable.
  • Respect local control. Locally elected school boards are responsive to parents and voters in their community. Concerns from a few parents shouldn’t infringe on the rights of others.
  • Civil penalties and court proceedings are punitive. Educators and school leaders want to do what is right. Allow time for training and accreditation oversight to correct missteps if necessary.
• Share concerns with Senators on the Ways and Means Committee regarding proposed limits on administrative costs (Oppose SF 251). Although a discussion about how to better invest resources in classrooms and minimize administrative burdens is welcome, the definitions in this proposal are not well thought out and will likely have severe consequences. Many administrative positions and expenses are directly related to mandates by state and federal government in addition to best practice oversight and support of improved teaching and learning. Also, request the Ways and Means Committee senators to oppose Div. III of SSB 1124 Elimination of the PERL. See Ways and Means Committee members below.
• Encourage good discussions on Flexibility: There are so many in the works; teacher recruitment and licensure flexibility, chapter 12 flexibility and efficiency, and bond language clean-up. See above for the many proposals that UEN supports.

 

Connecting with Legislators: To call and leave a message at the Statehouse during the legislative session, the House switchboard operator number is 515.281.3221 and the Senate switchboard operator number is 515.281.3371. You can ask if they are available or leave a message for them to call you back. You can also ask them what’s the best way to contact them during session. They may prefer email or text message or phone call based on their personal preferences.

Find biographical information about legislators gleaned from their election websites on the ISFIS site here: http://www.iowaschoolfinance.com/legislative_bios Learn about your new representatives and senators or find out something you don’t know about incumbents.

Find out who your legislators are through the interactive map or address search posted on the Legislative Website here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/find

 

UEN Advocacy Resources: Check out the UEN Website at www.uen-ia.org to find Advocacy Resources such as Issue Briefs, UEN Weekly Legislative Reports and video updates, UEN Calls to Action when immediate advocacy action is required, testimony presented to the State Board of Education, the DE or any legislative committee or public hearing, and links to fiscal information that may inform your work. The latest legislative actions from the Statehouse will be posted at: www.uen-ia.org/blogs-list. See the new 2023 UEN Advocacy Handbook, which is also available from the subscriber section of the UEN website.

 

Committee Members

House Education Committee Members

• Skyler Wheeler (R, District 4), Chair
• Craig P. Johnson (R, District 67), Vice Chair
• Sharon Sue Steckman (D, District 59), Ranking Member
• Brooke Boden (R, District 21)
• Dr. Steven P. Bradley (R, District 66)
• Molly Buck (D, District 41)
• Sue Cahill (D, District 52)
• Taylor R. Collins (R, District 95)
• Tracy Ehlert (D, District 79)
• Joel Fry (R, District 24)
• Dan Gehlbach (R, District 46)
• Bill Gustoff (R, District 40)
• Steven Holt (R, District 12)
• Heather Hora (R, District 92)
• Chad Ingels (R, District 68)
• Monica Kurth (D, District 98)
• Mary L. Madison (D, District 31)
• Heather Matson (D, District 42)
• Thomas Jay Moore (R, District 18)
• Anne Osmundson (R, District 64)
• Ray Sorensen (R, District 23)
• Art Staed (D, District 80)
• Henry Stone (R, District 9)

House Education Reform Members

• Pat Grassley (R, District 57), Chair
• Matt W. Windschitl (R, District 15), Vice Chair
• Jennifer Konfrst (D, District 32), Ranking Member
• Sue Cahill (D, District 52)
• John H. Wills (R, District 10)

Senate Education Committee Members

• Ken Rozenboom (R, District 19), Chair
• Jeff Taylor (R, District 2), Vice Chair
• Herman C. Quirmbach (D, District 25), Ranking Member
• Claire Celsi (D, District 16)
• Chris Cournoyer (R, District 35)
• Molly Donahue (D, District 37)
• Lynn Evans (R, District 3)
• Julian B. Garrett (R, District 11)
• Eric Giddens (D, District 38)
• Kerry Gruenhagen (R, District 41)
• Tim Kraayenbrink (R, District 4)
• Sandy Salmon (R, District 29)
• Amy Sinclair (R, District 12)
• Sarah Trone Garriott (D, District 14)
• Cherielynn Westrich (R, District 13)
• Brad Zaun (R, District 22)

Senate Ways and Means Committee Members

• Dan Dawson (R, District 10), Chair
• Carrie Koelker (R, District 33), Vice Chair
• Pam Jochum (D, District 36), Ranking Member
• Mike Bousselot (R, District 21)
• Waylon Brown (R, District 30)
• Chris Cournoyer (R, District 35)
• Adrian Dickey (R, District 44)
• William A. Dotzler Jr. (D, District 31)
• Dawn Driscoll (R, District 46)
• Mike Klimesh (R, District 32)
• Janet Petersen (D, District 18)
• Herman C. Quirmbach (D, District 25)
• David D. Rowley (R, District 5)
• Jason Schultz (R, District 6)
• Annette Sweeney (R, District 27)
• Todd E. Taylor (D, District 40)
• Cindy Winckler (D, District 49)
• Brad Zaun (R, District 22)

House Ways and Means Committee Members

• Bobby Kaufmann (R, District 82), Chair
• Barb Kniff McCulla (R, District 37), Vice Chair
• David Jacoby (D, District 86), Ranking Member
• Brian Best (R, District 11)
• Jane Bloomingdale (R, District 60)
• Brooke Boden (R, District 21)
• Ken Croken (D, District 97)
• Dave Deyoe (R, District 51)
• John Forbes (D, District 44)
• Eric J. Gjerde (D, District 74)
• Austin Harris (R, District 26)
• Charles Isenhart (D, District 72)
• Craig P. Johnson (R, District 67)
• Megan Jones (R, District 6)
• Kenan Judge (D, District 27)
• Monica Kurth (D, District 98)
• Shannon Lundgren (R, District 65)
• Amy Nielsen (D, District 85)
• Anne Osmundson (R, District 64)
• Michael V. Sexton (R, District 7)
• Brent Siegrist (R, District 19)
• Phil Thompson (R, District 48)
• John H. Wills (R, District 10)
• Elizabeth Wilson (D, District 73)
• Derek Wulf (R, District 76)