House File 224 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  LUKAN


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act requiring public school districts and nonpublic schools to
  2    offer a free college entrance exam to students in grades ten
  3    and eleven each school year, and providing effective and
  4    applicability dates.
  5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  6 TLSB 1951HH 83
  7 ak/nh/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  280.29  FREE COLLEGE ENTRANCE
  1  2 EXAM TEST.
  1  3    The board of directors of each public school district and
  1  4 the authorities in charge of each nonpublic school shall
  1  5 provide at no cost to each student in grades ten and eleven
  1  6 once each school year the opportunity to take the American
  1  7 College Test or, at the discretion of the board and nonpublic
  1  8 school authorities, the American College Test Plus Writing
  1  9 exam or the SAT Reasoning Test.
  1 10    Sec. 2.  STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED.  In accordance
  1 11 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
  1 12 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
  1 13 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
  1 14 received by the school district under section 257.16.  This
  1 15 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
  1 16 to meet all the state funding=related requirements of section
  1 17 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding shall be
  1 18 necessary for the full implementation of this Act by and
  1 19 enforcement of this Act against all affected school districts.
  1 20    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE AND APPLICABILITY DATES.  This Act takes
  1 21 effect July 1, 2010, and applies to school years beginning on
  1 22 or after that date.
  1 23                           EXPLANATION
  1 24    This bill requires school districts and nonpublic schools
  1 25 to offer a free American College Test (ACT) once a year to
  1 26 students in grades 10 and 11.  The school districts and the
  1 27 accredited nonpublic schools have the option of providing the
  1 28 expanded version of the ACT exam that includes a writing
  1 29 component, called the ACT Plus Writing exam, or offering the
  1 30 SAT Reasoning Test.
  1 31    The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
  1 32 section 25B.3.  The bill requires that the state cost of any
  1 33 state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school
  1 34 district from state school foundation aid received by the
  1 35 school district under Code section 257.16.  The specification
  2  1 is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state
  2  2 mandate funding=related requirements of Code section 25B.2.
  2  3 The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate
  2  4 the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any
  2  5 state mandates included in the bill.
  2  6    The bill takes effect July 1, 2010, and applies to school
  2  7 years beginning on or after that date.
  2  8 LSB 1951HH 83
  2  9 ak/nh/5