House File 194 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 194 BY SHIPLEY A BILL FOR An Act directing that students be required to read and 1 demonstrate comprehension of excerpts from Aleksandr 2 Solzhenitsyn’s book “the gulag archipelago” as a condition 3 of high school graduation. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 1615HH (2) 88 kh/jh
H.F. 194 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 280.9C Required reading —— the 1 gulag archipelago. 2 The board of directors of each school district and the 3 authorities in charge of each nonpublic school shall require 4 all students to read and demonstrate comprehension of excerpts 5 from the book by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, “the gulag 6 archipelago 1918-1956 abridged: an experiment in literary 7 investigation”, as a condition of high school graduation. 8 Sec. 2. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 9 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 10 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 11 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 12 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 13 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 14 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 15 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 16 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 17 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 18 districts. 19 EXPLANATION 20 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 21 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 22 This bill directs school districts and accredited nonpublic 23 schools to require all students to read and demonstrate 24 comprehension of excerpts from the abridged version of 25 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s book, “the gulag archipelago”, as a 26 condition of high school graduation. 27 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 28 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of 29 any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school 30 district from state school foundation aid received by the 31 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification 32 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate 33 funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The 34 inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the 35 -1- LSB 1615HH (2) 88 kh/jh 1/ 2
H.F. 194 requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state 1 mandates included in the bill. 2 -2- LSB 1615HH (2) 88 kh/jh 2/ 2