Senate File 2282 - Introduced
SENATE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
(SUCCESSOR TO SSB 3010)
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the elimination of reporting or data
2 collection requirements related to the department of
3 education.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
5 TLSB 5428SV 82
6 ak/rj/8
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph c, Code
1 2 Supplement 2007, is amended to read as follows:
1 3 c. A requirement that all school districts and accredited
1 4 nonpublic schools annually report to the department and the
1 5 local community the district=wide progress made in attaining
1 6 student achievement goals on the academic and other core
1 7 indicators and the district=wide progress made in attaining
1 8 locally established student learning goals. The school
1 9 districts and accredited nonpublic schools shall demonstrate
1 10 the use of multiple assessment measures in determining student
1 11 achievement levels. The school districts and accredited
1 12 nonpublic schools shall also report the number of students who
1 13 graduate, utilizing the definition of graduation rate
1 14 specified by the national governors association; the number of
1 15 students who drop out of school; the number of students
1 16 pursuing a high school equivalency diploma pursuant to chapter
1 17 259A; the number of students who were enrolled in the district
1 18 within the past five years and who received a high school
1 19 equivalency diploma; the percentage of students who receive a
1 20 high school diploma and who were not proficient in reading,
1 21 mathematics, and science in grade eleven; the number of
1 22 students in the prior year who were enrolled as high school
1 23 juniors who are within four units of meeting the district's
1 24 graduation requirements; the number of students who are tested
1 25 and the percentage of students who are so tested annually; and
1 26 the percentage of students who graduated during the prior
1 27 school year and who completed a core curriculum. The board
1 28 shall develop and adopt uniform definitions consistent with
1 29 the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No.
1 30 107=110 and any federal regulations adopted pursuant to the
1 31 federal Act. The school districts and accredited nonpublic
1 32 schools may report on other locally determined factors
1 33 influencing student achievement. The school districts and
1 34 accredited nonpublic schools shall also report to the local
1 35 community their results by individual attendance center.
2 1 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 256.100 DATA AND REPORTING
2 2 EVALUATION COMMITTEE.
2 3 1. The department shall establish a data and reporting
2 4 evaluation committee. The committee shall annually review
2 5 department data and reporting requirements of school districts
2 6 and accredited nonpublic schools, and may make recommendations
2 7 to the department and the general assembly to modify or
2 8 eliminate any data or reporting requirements. The committee
2 9 shall meet at least twice a year. The committee's annual
2 10 report shall be due the first day of the legislative session
2 11 each year.
2 12 2. Membership of the data and reporting evaluation
2 13 committee shall consist of the director of the department of
2 14 education or the director's designee; an organizational
2 15 representative and three practitioners from each of the
2 16 state's area education agencies; an organizational
2 17 representative and three practitioners each from the Iowa
2 18 state education association, the Iowa association of school
2 19 boards, and the school administrators of Iowa. The
2 20 organizational representatives of the agencies and
2 21 associations shall ensure that a variety of school districts
2 22 are represented including but not limited to school districts
2 23 with diverse geographic, population, rural, urban, school
2 24 size, and socioeconomic characteristics. Membership shall
2 25 include four ex officio, nonvoting legislative members: two
2 26 state senators, one appointed by the majority leader of the
2 27 senate, and one appointed by the minority leader of the
2 28 senate; and two state representatives, one appointed by the
2 29 speaker of the house of representatives and one appointed by
2 30 the minority leader of the house of representatives.
2 31 Sec. 3. Section 257.30, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2007,
2 32 is amended to read as follows:
2 33 A school budget review committee is established in the
2 34 department of education and consists of the director of the
2 35 department of education, the director of the department of
3 1 management, and three members who are knowledgeable in the
3 2 areas of Iowa school finance or public finance issues
3 3 appointed by the governor to represent the public. At least
3 4 one of the public members shall possess a master's or doctoral
3 5 degree in which areas of school finance, economics, or
3 6 statistics are an integral component, or shall have equivalent
3 7 experience in an executive administrative or senior research
3 8 position in the education or public administration field. The
3 9 members appointed by the governor shall serve staggered
3 10 three=year terms beginning and ending as provided in section
3 11 69.19 and are subject to senate confirmation as provided in
3 12 section 2.32. The committee shall meet and hold hearings each
3 13 year and shall continue in session until it has reviewed
3 14 budgets of school districts, as provided in section 257.31.
3 15 It may call in school board members and employees as necessary
3 16 for the hearings. Legislators shall be notified of hearings
3 17 concerning school districts in their constituencies. An agenda
3 18 of scheduled hearings and minutes of proceedings shall be
3 19 posted on the department's internet site.
3 20 Sec. 4. Section 257.31, subsection 2, Code Supplement
3 21 2007, is amended to read as follows:
3 22 2. The committee shall report to each session of the
3 23 general assembly, which report shall include any recommended
3 24 changes in laws relating to school districts, and shall
3 25 specify the number of hearings held annually, the reasons for
3 26 the committee's recommendations, information about the amounts
3 27 of property tax levied by school districts for a cash reserve,
3 28 and other information the committee deems advisable.
3 29 Sec. 5. Section 257.31, subsection 9, Code Supplement
3 30 2007, is amended to read as follows:
3 31 9. When the committee makes a decision under subsections 3
3 32 through 8, it shall make all necessary changes in the district
3 33 cost, budget, and tax levy. It shall give written notice of
3 34 its decision, including all such changes, to the school board
3 35 through the department of education.
4 1 Sec. 6. Section 260C.14, subsection 21, Code 2007, is
4 2 amended by striking the subsection.
4 3 Sec. 7. Section 279.63, subsection 2, paragraph e, Code
4 4 2007, is amended by striking the paragraph.
4 5 Sec. 8. Section 279.63, subsection 3, Code 2007, is
4 6 amended to read as follows:
4 7 3. Copies of a school district's financial report for the
4 8 previous school year shall be posted on an internet website
4 9 site maintained by the school district at the beginning of the
4 10 school year by January 1 of each school year. If the school
4 11 district does not maintain or develop a website an internet
4 12 site, the school district shall either distribute or post
4 13 written copies of the financial report at specified locations
4 14 throughout the school district.
4 15 Sec. 9. Section 282.24, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
4 16 3, Code 2007, is amended by striking the unnumbered paragraph.
4 17 Sec. 10. Section 298.6, Code 2007, is amended to read as
4 18 follows:
4 19 298.6 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF OUTSTANDING LEVIES.
4 20 The board of directors of a school district shall, prior to
4 21 certifying any levy by board approval, or submitting a levy
4 22 for voter approval, facilitate public access to a complete
4 23 listing of all outstanding levies within the school district
4 24 by rate, amount, duration, and the applicable maximum levy
4 25 limitations. The information relating to outstanding levies
4 26 shall be posted on an internet website site maintained by the
4 27 school district at the beginning of the school year by January
4 28 1 of each school year, and updated prior to board approval or
4 29 submission for voter approval of any levy during the school
4 30 year. If the school district does not maintain or develop a
4 31 website an internet site, the school district shall either
4 32 distribute or post written copies of the listing at specified
4 33 locations throughout the school district.
4 34 EXPLANATION
4 35 This bill eliminates reporting or data collection
5 1 requirements related to the department of education.
5 2 The bill eliminates the clauses in Code section 256.7,
5 3 subsection 21, that refer to a formula to calculate a
5 4 graduation rate based on the number of ninth graders that
5 5 actually graduate. The department's statewide student data
5 6 management system will be able to directly determine a
5 7 graduation rate this next school year. The requirement to
5 8 collect the percentage of students who are within four credits
5 9 of graduating at the end of their junior year is eliminated.
5 10 Language is deleted from Code sections 257.30 and 257.31
5 11 that refers to department reports to the legislature. In Code
5 12 section 257.31, subsection 9, language is eliminated that
5 13 requires the school budget review committee to give written
5 14 notice of all its actions under Code section 257.31,
5 15 subsections 3 through 8, to a school board through the
5 16 department of education.
5 17 The bill requires that the department establish a data and
5 18 reporting evaluation committee. The committee will review
5 19 data and reporting requirements annually and report to the
5 20 department and the general assembly. The bill prescribes the
5 21 committee's membership and that the committee meet at least
5 22 twice a year.
5 23 The bill eliminates Code section 260C.14, subsection 21, as
5 24 the department otherwise reports on high school equivalency
5 25 diploma success rates.
5 26 Code section 279.63, subsection 2, paragraph "e", which
5 27 requires reporting of teacher and administrator health
5 28 insurance benefits and options, is stricken. Reporting dates
5 29 are changed from the beginning of the school year to January 1
5 30 in Code sections 279.63, subsection 3, and 298.6 dealing with
5 31 financial and property tax levy reports posted on the
5 32 internet.
5 33 The provision in Code section 282.24 that requires the
5 34 department to notify districts about maximum tuition rates,
5 35 which are the district costs per pupil, is deleted as the
6 1 districts otherwise receive this information from the
6 2 department of management.
6 3 LSB 5428SV 82
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