House File 2490 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2490 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2370) A BILL FOR An Act requiring the director of the department of education to 1 establish a low-income student and poverty weighting work 2 group. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 6166HV (2) 88 md/jh

H.F. 2490 Section 1. POVERTY WEIGHTING WORK GROUP. 1 1. School funding in Iowa has not evolved as the 2 demographics of Iowa students have changed significantly, with 3 little funding formula attention in Iowa’s system targeted 4 to supporting socioeconomically disadvantaged students. In 5 order to meet the needs of such students and to ensure access 6 to the same opportunities that economically advantaged school 7 districts offer, school districts with higher percentages of 8 students in poverty in successful schools across the nation 9 spend more per pupil to cover the cost of the students’ 10 increased needs as compared to economically advantaged school 11 districts. Children from economically disadvantaged homes 12 often enter school with a more limited vocabulary and fewer 13 educational life experiences than those from economically 14 advantaged homes. According to the child and family policy 15 center, children living in poverty are more likely than 16 their peers to experience stress and deprivation that hinders 17 development and readiness for school and life. Significant 18 levels of poverty exist in all ninety-nine counties of this 19 state and, therefore, the general assembly should consider 20 additional ways to close the opportunity gap within the funding 21 formula. 22 2. According to the 2019 condition of education annual 23 report, forty-three percent of Iowa students are eligible 24 for free and reduced price meals under the federal National 25 School Lunch Act and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 26 42 U.S.C. §1751-1785, the most widely used measure of student 27 poverty, including within Iowa’s methodology for funding 28 at-risk programs. 29 3. The school finance formula review committee established 30 under section 257.1, subsection 4, met on December 13, 2019, 31 and recommended to the general assembly the creation of a 32 poverty weighting study committee. 33 4. The director of the department of education shall 34 establish and appoint members to a work group to examine the 35 -1- LSB 6166HV (2) 88 md/jh 1/ 4

H.F. 2490 impact of student poverty on Iowa students’ success, including 1 relative concentration of poverty in school districts and 2 alternative methodologies demonstrated to provide supports 3 necessary to close the opportunity gap, including examination 4 of relevant studies and testimony of relevant experts. The 5 work group shall also determine if the current methodology 6 effectively measures the needs of low-income students and shall 7 make recommendations for funding methodologies to provide 8 additional funding required for school districts to provide the 9 supports necessary to deliver successful outcomes for students 10 from low-income households. The department of education shall 11 work cooperatively to provide staffing assistance for the work 12 group. The work group shall be composed of at least all of the 13 following: 14 a. One member representing the Iowa association of school 15 boards. 16 b. One member representing the area education agencies. 17 c. One member representing the Iowa state education 18 association. 19 d. One member representing the school administrators of 20 Iowa. 21 e. One member representing the urban education network of 22 Iowa. 23 f. One member representing the rural school advocates of 24 Iowa. 25 g. One member representing the professional educators of 26 Iowa. 27 h. One representative of the school district with the 28 highest basic enrollment under section 257.6 for the school 29 budget year beginning July 1, 2020. 30 i. One representative of a school district with a basic 31 enrollment under section 257.6 for the school budget year 32 beginning July 1, 2020, that is ranked in the highest one-third 33 among all school districts in the state. 34 j. One representative of a school district with a basic 35 -2- LSB 6166HV (2) 88 md/jh 2/ 4

H.F. 2490 enrollment under section 257.6 for the school budget year 1 beginning July 1, 2020, that is ranked in the middle one-third 2 among all school districts in the state. 3 k. One representative of a school district with a basic 4 enrollment under section 257.6 for the school budget year 5 beginning July 1, 2020, that is ranked in the lowest one-third 6 among all school districts in the state. 7 l. One representative of a school district located in whole 8 or in part less than one hundred miles from the eastern border 9 of this state. 10 m. One representative of a school district located in whole 11 or in part more than one hundred miles from both the eastern 12 border of this state and the western border of this state. 13 n. One representative of a school district located in whole 14 or in part less than one hundred miles from the western border 15 of this state. 16 o. Four ex officio, nonvoting legislative members 17 consisting of the following: 18 (1) Two state senators, one appointed by the majority leader 19 of the senate and one appointed by the minority leader of the 20 senate. 21 (2) Two state representatives, one appointed by the speaker 22 and one appointed by the minority leader of the house of 23 representatives. 24 5. By January 2, 2021, the work group shall submit 25 recommendations to the general assembly and the governor 26 for new or modified funding methodologies for students from 27 low-income households. 28 EXPLANATION 29 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 30 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 31 This bill directs the director of the department of 32 education to establish and appoint members to a work group to 33 examine various topics related to Iowa’s current methodology 34 for determining levels of student poverty and funding related 35 -3- LSB 6166HV (2) 88 md/jh 3/ 4

H.F. 2490 to students from low-income households. The bill directs 1 the department of education to work cooperatively to provide 2 staffing assistance for the work group and establishes the 3 minimum persons comprising the work group. By January 2, 2021, 4 the work group is required to submit recommendations to the 5 general assembly and the governor for new or modified funding 6 methodologies for students from low-income households. 7 -4- LSB 6166HV (2) 88 md/jh 4/ 4