Senate Study Bill 3097
SENATE FILE
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
EDUCATION BILL BY
CHAIRPERSON SCHOENJAHN)
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act concerning state and local measures for preparing a
2 student for a career or for postsecondary education, including
3 a statewide core curriculum for school districts and
4 accredited nonpublic schools and a state=designated career
5 information and decision=making system.
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsections 26 and 28, Code
1 2 Supplement 2007, are amended to read as follows:
1 3 26. Adopt rules that establish a voluntary model core
1 4 curriculum and requiring, beginning with the students in the
1 5 2010==2011 school year graduating class, high school
1 6 graduation requirements for all students in school districts
1 7 and accredited nonpublic schools that include at a minimum
1 8 satisfactory completion of four years of English and language
1 9 arts, three years of mathematics, three years of science, and
1 10 three years of social studies. The voluntary model core
1 11 curriculum adopted shall address the core content standards in
1 12 subsection 28 and the skills and knowledge students need to be
1 13 successful in the twenty=first century. The voluntary model
1 14 core curriculum shall include social studies and twenty=first
1 15 century learning skills which include but are not limited to
1 16 civic literacy, health literacy, technology literacy,
1 17 financial literacy, and employability skills; and shall
1 18 address the curricular needs of students in kindergarten
1 19 through grade twelve in those areas. School districts and
1 20 accredited nonpublic schools shall adopt the core curriculum
1 21 developed for grades nine through twelve pursuant to this
1 22 section prior to the school year beginning July 1, 2010. The
1 23 state board shall adopt rules establishing a core curriculum
1 24 for kindergarten through grade eight, and school districts and
1 25 accredited nonpublic schools shall adopt the core curriculum
1 26 established by the state board prior to the 2014=2015 school
1 27 year. The state board shall continue the inclusive process
1 28 begun during the initial development of a voluntary model core
1 29 curriculum for grades nine through twelve including
1 30 stakeholder involvement, including but not limited to
1 31 representatives from the private sector and the business
1 32 community, and alignment of the voluntary model core
1 33 curriculum to other recognized sets of national and
1 34 international standards. The state board shall also recommend
1 35 quality assessments to school districts and accredited
2 1 nonpublic schools to measure the voluntary model core
2 2 curriculum.
2 3 28. Adopt a set of core content standards applicable to
2 4 all students in kindergarten through grade twelve in every
2 5 school district and accredited nonpublic school. For purposes
2 6 of this subsection, "core content standards" includes reading,
2 7 mathematics, and science. The core content standards shall be
2 8 identical to the core content standards included in Iowa's
2 9 approved 2006 standards and assessment system under Title I of
2 10 the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20
2 11 U.S.C. } 6301 et seq., as amended by the federal No Child Left
2 12 Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107=110. School districts and
2 13 accredited nonpublic schools shall include, at a minimum, the
2 14 core content standards adopted pursuant to this subsection in
2 15 any set of locally developed content standards. School
2 16 districts and accredited nonpublic schools are strongly
2 17 encouraged to include the voluntary model core curriculum or
2 18 set higher expectations in local standards. As changes in
2 19 federal law or regulation occur, the state board is authorized
2 20 to amend the core content standards as appropriate.
2 21 Sec. 2. Section 279.61, Code Supplement 2007, is amended
2 22 to read as follows:
2 23 279.61 STUDENT PLAN FOR PROGRESS TOWARD UNIVERSITY
2 24 ADMISSIONS == REPORT.
2 25 1. For the school year beginning July 1, 2007 2008, and
2 26 each succeeding school year, the board of directors of each
2 27 school district shall cooperate with each student enrolled in
2 28 grade eight to develop for the student a core curriculum plan
2 29 to guide the student toward the goal of successfully
2 30 completing, at a minimum, the voluntary model core curriculum
2 31 developed by the state board of education pursuant to section
2 32 256.7, subsection 26, by the time the student graduates from
2 33 high school. The plan shall include career options and shall
2 34 identify the coursework needed in grades nine through twelve
2 35 to support the student's postsecondary education and career
3 1 options. Additionally, the plan shall include a timeline for
3 2 each student to successfully complete, prior to graduation,
3 3 all components of the state=designated career information and
3 4 decision=making system administered by the department in
3 5 accordance with section 118 of the federal Carl D. Perkins
3 6 Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006, Pub.
3 7 L. No. 109=270. The student's parent or guardian shall sign
3 8 the core curriculum plan developed with the student and the
3 9 signed plan shall be included in the student's cumulative
3 10 records.
3 11 2. For the school year beginning July 1, 2007 2008, and
3 12 each succeeding school year, the board of directors of each
3 13 school district shall report annually to each student enrolled
3 14 in grades nine through twelve in the school district, and, if
3 15 the student is under the age of eighteen, to each student's
3 16 parent or guardian, the student's progress toward meeting the
3 17 goal of successfully completing the core curriculum and high
3 18 school graduation requirements adopted by the state board of
3 19 education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26.
3 20 Sec. 3. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION == CORE CURRICULUM STUDY.
3 21 The department of education shall conduct a study of the
3 22 measures necessary for the successful adoption by the state's
3 23 school districts and accredited nonpublic schools of core
3 24 curriculums and core content standards established by rule
3 25 pursuant to section 256.7, subsections 26 and 28. The
3 26 department shall submit its findings and recommendations,
3 27 including recommendations for statutory and administrative
3 28 rule changes necessary, to the general assembly by November
3 29 14, 2008.
3 30 Sec. 4. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance
3 31 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
3 32 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
3 33 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
3 34 received by the school district under section 257.16. This
3 35 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
4 1 to meet all of the state funding=related requirements of
4 2 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding
4 3 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act by
4 4 and enforcement of this Act against all affected school
4 5 districts.
4 6 EXPLANATION
4 7 This bill requires the state board of education to adopt
4 8 rules establishing a core curriculum which school districts
4 9 and accredited nonpublic schools must adopt before the start
4 10 of the 2010=2011 school year for grades nine through 12 and
4 11 before the start of the 2014=2015 school year for kindergarten
4 12 through grade eight. The bill also requires a timeline for
4 13 successful completion of core curriculum plans for students
4 14 and provides for a core curriculum study by the department of
4 15 education.
4 16 The bill requires that the individual core curriculum plans
4 17 school districts must develop to guide each student toward the
4 18 goal of successfully completing the core curriculum by the
4 19 time the student graduates must include a timeline for the
4 20 successful completion of all components of the
4 21 state=designated career information and decision=making system
4 22 the state maintains under a federal Carl D. Perkins Career and
4 23 Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 grant.
4 24 The department is directed to conduct a study of the
4 25 measures necessary for the successful adoption by the state's
4 26 school districts and accredited nonpublic schools of core
4 27 curriculums and core content standards established by the
4 28 state board. The department must submit its findings and
4 29 recommendations to the general assembly by November 14, 2008.
4 30 The bill eliminates references to a voluntary model core
4 31 curriculum.
4 32 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
4 33 section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of any
4 34 state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school
4 35 district from state school foundation aid received by the
5 1 school district under Code section 257.16. The specification
5 2 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state
5 3 mandate funding=related requirements of Code section 25B.2.
5 4 The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate
5 5 the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any
5 6 state mandates included in the bill.
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